![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR-1024x576.jpg?resize=1024%2C576\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nI am compelled to respond to Polk County Commissioner Bill Braswell\u2019s opinion piece in the
Four Corners Sun. As a veterinarian with more than four decades of experience, twenty-five of
which have been dedicated to the humane and effective management of feral and free-roaming
cats (known more broadly as community cats), and being an expert in that management, I need
to correct the misinformation that you shared. My first thought is, Braswell, stay in your lane.
You are a blueberry farmer for crying out loud! What in the world do you know about the
effective and humane management of community cats?
My first comment is that, as you stated, the BOCC does not \u201cown\u201d the animal control facility. But
you most certainly CAN tell the sheriff how to run it! It\u2019s called the Polk County Animal
Ordinance, which if amended by you and the other Commissioners to embrace TNVR in the
county, the sheriff would HAVE TO adhere to. To your specific points:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- TNVR DOES<\/strong> effectively reduce community cat populations. Where are your references
that show that \u201cTNVR programs overwhelmingly fail to reduce populations in the long
term?\u201d I will share references (one from the University of Florida) that, in fact, DO show
that TNVR programs DO significantly reduce colony population over time. Here are just
a couple:
Spehar, DD, and Wolf, PJ. Back to School: An Updated Evaluation of the
Effectiveness of a Long-Term Trap-Neuter-Return Program on a University\u2019s
Free-Roaming Cat Population. Animals. 2019, 9, 768
J.K. Levy et al. Effect of high-impact targeted trap-neuter-return and adoption of
community cats on cat intake to a shelter. The Veterinary Journal 201 (2014)
269\u2013274
Yes, research has shown that to be effective 70% of the cats in a colony need to be
sterilized for the population to diminish. That is referred to as \u2018targeted TNVR,\u2019 and
studies have shown that it is, indeed, effective at reducing colony numbers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n- TNVR DOES NOT <\/strong>disregard the cats\u2019 quality of life. Quite the contrary. With colony
caretakers providing resources, which by the way, reduces wildlife predation, cats can
be retrapped and any necessary medical needs, including rabies vaccination boosters,
can be attended to. There are numerous reports of community cats having a lifespan
approaching that of indoor pet cats. Yes, common sense would tell you that outdoor cats
are more likely to be injured or killed by automobiles or other predators, but isn\u2019t giving
them a chance to enjoy the life they <\/strong>have better than just summarily killing them?<\/li>\n\n\n\n- Describing community cats as \u201cinvasive predators that kill billions of birds, mammals,
reptiles, and amphibians annually\u201d is a GROSS MISCHARACTERIZATION<\/strong>. There is
compelling research that having a colony caretaker to provide resources (food) for these
cats reduces predation of wildlife. It only makes sense; why would a cat hunt if it has a
full stomach? Cats don\u2019t hunt for sport; they hunt for subsistence. Scat analysis has
shown that colonies with a caretaker have less bird DNA in their stools than unmanaged
colonies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n- TNVR actually strengthens public health! Consider this: community cats vaccinated
against rabies form a barrier to the disease between wildlife, and domestic pets, and
people. Remember \u2018herd immunity\u2019 from the COVID days? Well, it is alive and well in a
colony of community cats. And the bad news is that when animal control traps a
previously-vaccinated cat, it actually weakens that herd immunity. And, toxoplasmosis?
TNVR actually reduces the threat of toxoplasmosis. You make it sound like these colony
cats are out there spreading toxoplasmosis, 24\/7. That is just not the case. You see, cats
only shed the Toxoplasma gondii organism for a short period of time (less than two
weeks) ONCE in their life. They typically acquire the organism as youngsters when they
begin to hunt rodents. With TNVR, these kittens are NEVER born to acquire and spread
the organism.<\/li>\n\n\n\n- TNVR DOES NOT ENCOURAGE PET ABANDONMENT!<\/strong> Where is your evidence? This
is a feckless argument that is propagated by those who do not embrace TNVR! And, to
suggest that resources spent on TNVR could be better allocated on alternatives like
adoption or euthanasia is nothing short of ridiculous! Adoption? Feral cats are NOT
adoptable in the genuinely accepted sense of pet adoption. And euthanasia? Are you
kidding me? We have been killing cats for decades, and it has NOT solved the problem.<\/li>\n\n\n\n- Do you have evidence to support your contention that TNVR is \u201can unethical
compromise that fails on animal welfare grounds, as the weight of data suggests it\u2019s
unlikely to resolve stray cat problems?\u201d You cite several organizations that do not
support TNVR, one of them being the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).
Your contention is incorrect. The AVMA\u2019s position on \u201cFree-roaming abandoned and feral
cats\u201d encourages non-lethal strategies, and states, \u201cVMA encourages the use of non-
lethal strategies as the initial focus for control of free-roaming abandoned and feral cat
populations. Public, private, and not-for-profit humane organizations and individuals
must make every effort to promote the adoption of acceptable unowned cats and implement
sterilization programs. Control of free-roaming abandoned, and feral cats may be
improved when:
a. State and local agencies provide significantly more funding for animal control
agencies.
b. Concerted and sustained public educational campaigns highlight the problems
associated with free-roaming abandoned, and feral cats, as well as effective
efforts toward their control.
The position statement goes on to say, \u201cThe AVMA recognizes that managed colonies
are controversial. However, properly managed programs can improve quality of life for
these cats through better nutrition, vaccination to prevent disease, spaying and
neutering to reduce unwanted litters, euthanasia of sick and debilitated cats, and
adoption of healthy kittens. The goal of colony management should be continual
reduction and eventual elimination of the colony through attrition. Appropriately managed
colonies also have the potential to significantly decrease risk to public health, wildlife,
and ecosystems.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\nAnd to cite the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) as a credible animal
welfare source is just plain ridiculous, and actually misleading. PETA opposes traditional
rescue, domestic pet ownership of any kind, TNVR, and frequently kills animals in their
shelter in Virginia. To consider PETA a mainstream humane organization is ludicrous.
According to sources, PETA kills thousands of cats and dogs instead of finding them
homes. Why? Simply stated, PETA does not believe in pet ownership. PETA\u2019s president,
Ingrid Newkirk has been quoted as saying, \u201cIf people want toys, they should buy
inanimate objects. If they want companionship, they should seek it with their own kind.\u201d
Ridiculously, PETA has argued that outdoor cats should be summarily killed instead of
allowed to live. In\u00a0a 2014 interview\u00a0with the Washington Post, Newkirk argued that
outdoor cats would be better off dead because they might contract a future illness or be
hit by a car in the future. In PETA\u2019s twisted mind, it\u2019s more humane to just euthanize the
animals than for a hypothetical harm to befall them in the future. It is unsurprising,
however, that you would cite them as a credible source. They are not a domestic animal
advocacy organization.
Braswell, I have refuted everything you have posed in your ridiculous opinion piece! My
question to you is why can you not read the science and recognize that your position is way
off base? And, corollary to that, why can you not realize that you and the other
Commissioners have the power to amend the Polk County Animal Ordinance to embrace
evidence-based humane and effective methods to manage community cats. Or, are you SO
beholden to Grady that you refuse to exercise good judgment and common sense? As I said
earlier, stay in your lane!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By G. Robert Weedon, DVM, MPH I am compelled to respond to Polk County Commissioner Bill Braswell\u2019s opinion piece in theFour Corners Sun. As a veterinarian with more than four… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyMVwvMDRcL0xFVFRFUi1UTy1USEUtRURJVE9SLmpwZz9maXQ9MTAyNCUyQzU3NiZzc2w9MSIsInR4dCI6IkxldHRlciB0byB0aGUgRWRpdG9yOiBSZXNwb25zZSB0byBQb2xrIENvdW50eSBDb21taXNzaW9uZXIgQmlsbCBCcmFzd2VsbFx1MjAxOXMgb3BpbmlvbiBwaWVjZSIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiaGlnaHdheSIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9.PeqCqIlEq2Y9FsEjofCjglTNEu2tZmmb3ijsmIe1zsMMQ"},"version":2,"attached_media":[{"id":10222,"url":"http:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[12169],"class_list":["post-57835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-letters","tag-letter-to-the-editor-response-to-polk-county-commissioner-bill-braswells-opinion-piece"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57835"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57836,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57835\/revisions\/57836"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- TNVR DOES NOT <\/strong>disregard the cats\u2019 quality of life. Quite the contrary. With colony