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One Feral At A Time

May 28, 2008, 4:46PM MT

By Denise A LeBeau

Best Friends partners with NMHPU to help the experts make a sustainable difference

Best Friends partners with NMHPU to help the experts make a sustainable difference

Best Friends will be funding 2,000 spay/neuter surgeries for the feral cats of Salt Lake City for No More Homeless Pets Utah! Not only will there be measurable goals such as reducing cat intake at specified shelters by 20% but a complete action kit will be created to help other communities reach their goals!

No More Homeless Pets Utah program has been on the cutting edge of helping feral cats for years. One of the most instrumental people in advancing the understanding of the feral cat and humane ways to address their situation has been Holly Sizemore. She has taken over the helm as director of NMHPU and the future of the Feral Fix program has never looked so bright.

“I realized that to send these outdoor, un-owned cats into the sheltering system was not only a death-sentence for the cats, it was costing taxpayers a lot of money and not really solving the problem,” relayed Holly.

“Trap and kill was the norm, and the local municipality said ‘If you don’t trap the cats [and bring them in] we’ll fine you’ so this was scaring the feral cat caregivers."

“Feral cats were entering the shelter system and not coming out. Keeping them out is the key to keeping them alive,” shared NMHPU community program coordinator, Amanda Bell. And she’s more than right – approximately 75% of the cats killed in the US shelter system are ferals!

"Shelters and municipalities don’t like to kill cats, and so now that TNR has been proven effective, more municipalities are welcoming the method."

NMHPU were able to make good on their idealistic goal by starting a pilot project in West Valley City, UT; which has become a nationally recognized success story. By implementing a TNR program, the city saw a 30% decrease in cats entering the system and the euthanasia rate dropped 40%! The TNR program emptied cage space that were once filled with ferals and made room for adoptable cats to stay longer and find their forever homes.

Because they had the vision to try TNR and the diligence to track the results it became apparent that the $20,000 investment in TNR actually saved the city $60,000! When dealing with non-animal people money talks, and this was screaming from the rooftops! Holly also brought in the local elected officials to change ordinances and enable long term goals to come to fruition.

With this milestone underway – they spearheaded another triumphant endeavor on behalf of the ferals! The Door Hanging Campaign! Holly found that the doorknob notices were so effective they printed a Spanish version too.

NMHPU also got a spay/neuter tax option for Utahans and there are many No More Homeless Pets license plate tags tooling around town thanks to their continuing efforts! “We get around $60,000 per year thanks to the public that get our plates – which is doubly great because the money goes towards spay/neuter surgeries and we’re also spreading awareness.”

Due to fuel costs and budgeting issues their Big Fix program was cut from 4 days a week to 3 days a week, but Holly’s relentless problem solving has the program supplementing surgeries in areas where the Big Fix doesn’t go by getting local veterinarians on board.

However, the funding needed to get Salt Lake County ahead of the feral cat population is not going to be an issue, thanks in part to a partnership with Best Friends Animal Society.

“No More Homeless Pets Utah has been a model and a leader in finding ways to help feral cats. From tackling the overpopulation problem to working with local governments and shelter management, they have consistently shown that helping the ferals in a humane way is the most effective solution,” said Nikki Sharp, campaigns manager for Best Friends Animal Society.

Citing the West Valley City pilot program as the best example of everyone working together for a greater good – Nikki explained that helping NMHPU get to the next level is what Best Friends wants to work towards achieving.

“Holly works to unite all the stakeholders: getting buy in from the shelter, Animal Control and the City Council. The number of cats coming into the shelter stabilized and then the euthanize rate went down, this has been a cost saving endeavor for West Valley and now we’re going to help take that to Salt Lake County and saturate that area with TNR and pro-active ordinances.”

Nikki is a driving force behind the recent partnership between NMHPU and Best Friends, where bringing TNR to the largest city in Utah is just around the corner.

And the partnership doesn’t end there. In mid-June there will be a presentation by Holly Sizemore and Shelly Kotter, manager of the Best Friends Feral Cat Program to the officials of St. George, UT to outline how they too can save money and lower their euthanasia rates by following a simple, straightforward and proven program!

Getting Utah to become a feral friendly state and leading the country in positive solutions to end shelter euthanasia for cats is becoming more of a reality everyday with this dynamic partnership.

How You Can Help
Support No More Homeless Pets Utah Feral Fix program, click here

Get Involved with NMHP, click here

Support the Best Friends Network Rescue Fund, click here

Feral Cat Resources from Best Friends, click here

Join the Best Friend Feral Cat Program Community, click here

by Denise LeBeau, Best Friends staff
images of cats in the Feral Fix program in SLC, by Molly Wald, Best Friends photographer

Comments

Posted May 30, 2008, 2:48PM by mimi

Projects like this one in Utah and the one in Randolph, Iowa, will be how we get to programs that can be replicated anywhere in the country. Learning what works and what doesn't, the questions to ask, whom to involve, the sequence of steps that works -- recording all that and tweaking it, case to case, will let us go into any community that is even remotely considering TNR and give them the specifics of why they should try it.

Congratulations to everyone involved, and thank you for bringing us so much closer to good solutions for feral cats!

Posted May 30, 2008, 12:41PM by Cathie

This is indeed exciting news. Go Feral Cat Team!!!

Posted June 03, 2008, 5:45PM by QMD333

Can you good people do something about the planned massacre of feral cats at JFK Airport, please?

Posted August 27, 2008, 8:3PM by nj2tou

you need your own reality check. Please go away.