It came as some surprise, a couple weeks ago, to learn that Stanley Temple was a guest on WHYY’s Radio Times, discussing the Smithsonian’s “killer cat study.” (Full disclosure: I’ve yet to listen to the episode.) Temple was, as I’m sure most readers know, the man behind the infamous Wisconsin Study (from which, not surprisingly, [...]
Browsing the archives for the The Cat Debate category
18 Feb 13
27 Dec 12
The National Geographic Society is, according to its website, “one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational institutions in the world.” I’m not going to dispute the relative size of the organization, but an article posted Tuesday on its News Watch blog raises doubts about their commitment to science and education.
The piece, which is billed [...]
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Posted in In the News, The Cat Debate
Tagged Jordon Schaul, Michael Hutchins, National Geographic, The Wildlife Society
Tagged Jordon Schaul, Michael Hutchins, National Geographic, The Wildlife Society
20 Dec 12
A recent study finds important differences between cat caretakers and bird conservationists when it comes to their attitudes and beliefs about the impacts of free-roaming cats and how to best manage them. In the end, however, the methods employed lead to far more questions than answers.
“Because western society’s orientations toward wildlife is becoming more [...]
12 Dec 12
Putting on any conference is a tremendous undertaking. But the challenges involved in pulling together The Outdoor Cat: Science and Policy from a Global Perspective went far beyond the logistics of wrangling 20-some speakers and 150 or so attendees. For starters, there was deciding who should (and should not) be invited to present. (More on [...]
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Posted in In the News, The Cat Debate, Vox Felina
Tagged Audubon Society of Portland, Best Friends Animal Society, ethics, FoundAnimals, Humane Society of the United States, population modeling, predation, The Outdoor Cat: Science and Policy from a Global Perspective, TNR, Trap-Neuter-Return, zoonotic diseases
Tagged Audubon Society of Portland, Best Friends Animal Society, ethics, FoundAnimals, Humane Society of the United States, population modeling, predation, The Outdoor Cat: Science and Policy from a Global Perspective, TNR, Trap-Neuter-Return, zoonotic diseases
13 Nov 12
Coming up December 3rd and 4th: The Outdoor Cat: Science and Policy from a Global Perspective, a conference with an ambitious—and admirable—goal:
“To bring together scientists, technical experts, and others with an interest in the constellation of issues tied to the presence of free-roaming, abandoned, and outdoor cat populations in our world, and to take the [...]
26 Jul 12
“Bird lovers have just derailed a plan to save some alley cats from death at the hands of animal control,” writes Bruce Leshan in a WUSA-9 TV story that aired Tuesday. “When Prince George’s County Council woman Mary Lehman proposed to order animal control to release” TNR cats, “she ran into a storm of criticism [...]
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Posted in Policy Issues, The Cat Debate
Tagged American Bird Conservancy, feral cats, Prince George's County, TNR, Trap-Neuter-Return
Tagged American Bird Conservancy, feral cats, Prince George's County, TNR, Trap-Neuter-Return
26 Mar 12
“Cat Fight,” which appears in the latest issue of Conservation magazine, does little to cut through the rhetoric or clear up the numerous misrepresentations that plague the debate over free-roaming cats.
There is, it’s often said, no such thing as bad PR. Even so, I’m not thrilled with the way I’m portrayed in an article appearing [...]
5 Dec 11
I’ve been a big fan of FixNation since contacting them, nearly a year ago, to clear up bogus allegations made in the Toronto Star by documentary filmmaker Maureen Palmer, who’d visited the clinic while filming Cat Crazed. The response I received was prompt and professional. And, it turns out, the beginning of an ongoing conversation.
Last [...]
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Posted in The Cat Debate
Tagged American Bird Conservancy, California Environmental Quality Act, Endangered Habitats League, feral cats, FixNation, Los Angeles Audubon Society, Moderncat Studio, Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon Society, PetSmart Charities, Santa Monica Bay Audubon Society, TNR, Trap-Neuter-Return, Urban Wildlands Group
Tagged American Bird Conservancy, California Environmental Quality Act, Endangered Habitats League, feral cats, FixNation, Los Angeles Audubon Society, Moderncat Studio, Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon Society, PetSmart Charities, Santa Monica Bay Audubon Society, TNR, Trap-Neuter-Return, Urban Wildlands Group
24 Nov 11
It’s always good to see the Humane Society of the United States supporting and promoting TNR. After all, it wasn’t all that long ago when HSUS was on the other side of the issue. In 1997, when the American Bird Conservancy launched its Cats Indoors! campaign, the organization was “singled out as its ‘principal partner [...]
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Posted in In the News, The Cat Debate, Threats to Wildlife
Tagged Alley Cat Allies, American Bird Conservancy, Becky Robinson, Hawaii, Humane Society of the United States, New Jersey Feral Cat & Wildlife Coalition, Nico Dauphiné, The Wildlife Society, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Wayne Pacelle
Tagged Alley Cat Allies, American Bird Conservancy, Becky Robinson, Hawaii, Humane Society of the United States, New Jersey Feral Cat & Wildlife Coalition, Nico Dauphiné, The Wildlife Society, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Wayne Pacelle
29 Aug 11
For more than 20 years now, Gill’s classic text has been required reading for ornithology students. While the book’s attention to conservation issues has expanded over its three editions, its treatment of the impact of cats on bird populations reflects an unsettling shift away from science.
The hoards of students descending upon college campuses this fall [...]
1 Jul 11
Mother Jones, according to its Website, “is a nonprofit news organization that specializes in investigative, political, and social justice reporting.”
“…smart, fearless journalism” keeps people informed—“informed” being pretty much indispensable to a democracy that actually works. Because we’ve been ahead of the curve time and again. Because this is journalism not funded by or beholden to [...]
9 May 11
Given her 15 years’ experience writing the paper’s Pet Tales column, one might expect the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Linda Wilson Fuoco to know something about free-roaming cats and TNR. Or, failing that, leverage her 30+ years as a newspaper reporter and find out.
If her latest column is any indication, though, she’s simply not interested.
The Roundup
Late last [...]
8 Apr 11
“SF Weekly is San Francisco’s smartest publication. That’s because we take journalism seriously, but not so seriously that we let ourselves be guided by an agenda.”
At least that’s what the paper’s Website says.
Now, as somebody who reads SF Weekly only rarely, I want to be careful not to generalize. But if last week’s feature story [...]
19 Mar 11
To hear The Wildlife Society’s staunch opponents of TNR tell it, the media’s just not interested in stories about “the impacts of free-ranging and feral cats on wildlife.”
“This January when thousands of blackbirds fell from the sky in Arkansas, articles about mass extinctions and bird conservation were a dime-a-dozen. When the Deepwater Horizon oil [...]
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Posted in In the News, The Cat Debate, Threats to Wildlife
Tagged Christopher Lepczyk, David Jessup, Feral Cats and Their Management, Melissa Miller, Michael Hutchins, Nico Dauphiné, Pamela Jo Hatley, Robert J. Cooper, Steve Holmer, The Wildlife Professional, The Wildlife Society, Toxoplasma gondii, Travis Longcore
Tagged Christopher Lepczyk, David Jessup, Feral Cats and Their Management, Melissa Miller, Michael Hutchins, Nico Dauphiné, Pamela Jo Hatley, Robert J. Cooper, Steve Holmer, The Wildlife Professional, The Wildlife Society, Toxoplasma gondii, Travis Longcore
25 Jan 11
Among the many news stories, research studies, and government reports brought to my attention last week was an article in Monday’s Toronto Star (thanks, once again, to the good folks at Alley Cat Rescue, who routinely put Google Alerts to shame!). What I find compelling about the article is not its central story (another community [...]
5 Jan 11
“Reassessment: A Closer Look at ‘Critical Assessment of Claims Regarding Management of Feral Cats by Trap-Neuter-Return’” has been revised and expanded!
This paper, a brief review and critique of the essay “Critical Assessment of Claims Regarding Management of Feral Cats by Trap-Neuter-Return” by Travis Longcore, Catherine Rich, and Lauren M. Sullivan, now includes sections [...]
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Posted in The Cat Debate, Vox Felina
Tagged Cole Carlson Hawkins, Coleman & Temple, compensatory predation, Conservation Biology, Critical Assessment of Claims Regarding Management of Feral Cats by Trap-Neuter-Return, David A. Jessup, Ellen Perry Berkeley, Gary J. Patronek, Gary Meffe, Kays and DeWan, LASC BS115483, Merritt Clifton, Mike Fitzgerald, Nico Dauphiné, Stanley A. Temple, Toxoplasma gondii, Travis Longcore, Wisconsin Study
Tagged Cole Carlson Hawkins, Coleman & Temple, compensatory predation, Conservation Biology, Critical Assessment of Claims Regarding Management of Feral Cats by Trap-Neuter-Return, David A. Jessup, Ellen Perry Berkeley, Gary J. Patronek, Gary Meffe, Kays and DeWan, LASC BS115483, Merritt Clifton, Mike Fitzgerald, Nico Dauphiné, Stanley A. Temple, Toxoplasma gondii, Travis Longcore, Wisconsin Study
22 Dec 10
Smithsonian magazine is, according to its website, “created for modern, well-rounded individuals with diverse interests” and “chronicles the arts, history, sciences and popular culture of the times.” Jess Righthand’s recent article, “The World’s Worst Invasive Mammals,” seems—despite its inclusion in the online edition’s “Science & Nature” section—better suited for the pop culture category.
Indeed, the story [...]
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Posted in In the News, Public Health Threats, Rabies, The Cat Debate, Toxoplasma
Tagged additive predation, American Bird Conservancy, compensatory predation, David Jessup, Feral Cats and Their Management, Jess Righthand, Merritt Clifton, Nico Dauphiné, One Billion Birds, Peter Marra, Smithsonian Magazine, The American Bird Conservancy Guide to Bird Conservation, Toxoplasma gondii, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Tagged additive predation, American Bird Conservancy, compensatory predation, David Jessup, Feral Cats and Their Management, Jess Righthand, Merritt Clifton, Nico Dauphiné, One Billion Birds, Peter Marra, Smithsonian Magazine, The American Bird Conservancy Guide to Bird Conservation, Toxoplasma gondii, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
8 Dec 10
Over the weekend, a comment (criticizing, once again, the recently released University of Nebraska-Lincoln “report”) I posted on Audubon magazine’s blog, The Perch, drew fire from Travis Longcore.
Longcore, of course, is the lead author of the widely circulated paper, “Critical Assessment of Claims Regarding Management of Feral Cats by Trap-Neuter-Return” and Science Director for [...]
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Posted in Cats and Birds, In the News, The Cat Debate
Tagged Audubon Society, Critical Assessment of Claims Regarding Management of Feral Cats by Trap-Neuter-Return, Feral Cats and Their Management, LASC BS115483, lethal control, Marion Island, Travis Longcore, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Urban Wildlands Group
Tagged Audubon Society, Critical Assessment of Claims Regarding Management of Feral Cats by Trap-Neuter-Return, Feral Cats and Their Management, LASC BS115483, lethal control, Marion Island, Travis Longcore, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Urban Wildlands Group
1 Sep 10
The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) recently made available online (via downloadable PDFs) several of its articles related to free-roaming cats/TNR. Although abstracts have been online for some time, access to the full text for these papers has generally required either a subscription to the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association or access to [...]
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