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News & ArtsTuesday, May 3, 2011
Cats Free Barn Cats! Hurry, While Supplies Last!
Posted by Goldy on Tue, May 3, 2011 at 4:05 PM
I dunno what it is, but something about this press release tells me that Regional Animal Services of King County (RASKC) has a surfeit of cats at the moment:
Got Mice or Rats? Try Barn Cats!
King County offers free, natural rodent control to rural residents
Rodents like mice and rats aren’t just a nuisance — they can be a threat to human and animal health. On farms and ranches, rodents contaminate livestock feed, their droppings are unsanitary, and their chewing damages barns and sheds. Traps and poisons can be used to control mice and rats, but many of those methods create additional hazards for people and family pets.
Regional Animal Services of King County (RASKC) has a solution for rural residents: adopt barn cats. These outdoor felines are a totally natural, organic rodent control method. All they generally need is shelter, such as that provided by a barn, a warm place to sleep, fresh water and food. Most of these mousers and ratters are feral or semi-tame, and are available now at the RASKC shelter in Kent.
“Barn cats are nearly invisible,” said Glynis Frederiksen, operations manager for the shelter. “Except for the occasional dead mouse or rat they leave behind, they hide in the shadows and you’ll rarely see any evidence of them.”
RASKC places barn cats in small colonies, usually in groups of four. All of the cats have been spayed or neutered, vaccinated, ear-tipped for identification, and have been tested for feline diseases. Best of all, there is no charge for this service, and volunteers are available to deliver and assist with placing your barn cats.
Hear that? RASKC volunteers are ready to deliver four totally organic, feral or semi-tame "barn cats" to your door, at absolutely no charge to you. Such a bargain! Hurry up while supplies last!
4
Aaaaaaugh no. No. No no no. Do not have outdoor cats. Do not let your cats roam around outside. Cats are far and away the worst ecological disaster of any introduced species in the history of humanity. They kill off billions (with a b) of birds, not to mention reptiles and bugs that are important ecologically, and they spread Toxoplasma and other pathogens that infect and sometimes seriously harm a wide variety of species from humans to sea otters.
No.
NO.
(Also, your goddamn cats shit in my garden. There will be consequences.)
No.
NO.
(Also, your goddamn cats shit in my garden. There will be consequences.)
5
@4,
There's a totally natural, organic solution for that: barn dogs.
Also, your goddamn cats shit in my garden.
There's a totally natural, organic solution for that: barn dogs.
6
@4 - worse than mice or rats, most of which are a non-native anyhow? If you're living somewhere rural enough to own a barn, cats are probably your most ecological option. Until an owl kills them, of course.
8
The county keeps trying to lower the percentage of animals it has to euthanize of those that wind up in its shelters. In 1990 they had to euthanize 80% of the animals that came in - thanks to innovative adoption programs it's down to 20%.
These 'feral/semi-tame' cats in particular were out killing songbirds galore before they wound up in the shelter. The question is whether county policy should be to blanket-euthanize to eliminate the heightened threat these particular cats pose to birds, or to try to place them with families who have need of their hunting services, knowing it means birds will die along with rodents. I'm not sure.
These 'feral/semi-tame' cats in particular were out killing songbirds galore before they wound up in the shelter. The question is whether county policy should be to blanket-euthanize to eliminate the heightened threat these particular cats pose to birds, or to try to place them with families who have need of their hunting services, knowing it means birds will die along with rodents. I'm not sure.
9
To muddy the water still further, the cats are killing plenty of non-native birds (starlings, house sparrows) along with the native goldfinches, house finches, etc.
10
I agree with gus @8. Also, cats kill songbirds, but putting down rat poison kills everything. So I have mixed feelings about the idea.
Though if people really want to use cats to deal with rodent problems, I've seen a bunch of U-district apartments that could use a barn cat or two.
Though if people really want to use cats to deal with rodent problems, I've seen a bunch of U-district apartments that could use a barn cat or two.
11
Save up and buy a 12-gauge. It'll solve all your problems - guaranteed. And you don't have to feed it.
13
@11 - For birds, you mean? I thought we agreed those were staying. It certainly isn't an effective weapon against mouse and rat populations (well, I suppose it's effective on the ones you actually shoot, but you'll never shoot enough to make a difference), and I don't think suicide is necessary in this case.
Hawks and owls and snakes are also awesome mousers, but it would seem everything with a taste for mice shares a taste for small birds. Free cats seem way more practical.
Hawks and owls and snakes are also awesome mousers, but it would seem everything with a taste for mice shares a taste for small birds. Free cats seem way more practical.
14
I do like the idea of 5280, drunk, blowing holes in all corners of his house with a shotgun. Oh, crap, I hit the gas pipe!
The image that comes to mind is Philip the Special Agent on this season of Survivor, out hunting leetle tiny crabs by throwing sharpened sticks at them. Don't worry, we'll make sure to call you a Mighty Hunter in the paperwork.
The image that comes to mind is Philip the Special Agent on this season of Survivor, out hunting leetle tiny crabs by throwing sharpened sticks at them. Don't worry, we'll make sure to call you a Mighty Hunter in the paperwork.
15
@4, um, are you familiar with role of cats in the Black Death, in Middle Age Europe? That was a case of the absence of cats having a profound effect on human history.
17
Goldy--
As usual, you seem to take delight in your ability to spew out that signature brand of cunty sarcasm.
I've worked in an office complex with neutered feral cats. Ate lunch about 20 feet from them every day. They avoid people and keep to themselves. They also get the job done. I understand that they've been shown effective around LA police stations.
Outdoor cats won't live long. But the program allows them to have a normal life instead of being put down. It also provides value to their adopted property.
Neutered feral cats that start to accept people are re-collected and put into better situations. However, that rarely happens. A cat that isn't handled by people in the first few weeks is pretty much feral for life.
As usual, you seem to take delight in your ability to spew out that signature brand of cunty sarcasm.
I've worked in an office complex with neutered feral cats. Ate lunch about 20 feet from them every day. They avoid people and keep to themselves. They also get the job done. I understand that they've been shown effective around LA police stations.
Outdoor cats won't live long. But the program allows them to have a normal life instead of being put down. It also provides value to their adopted property.
Neutered feral cats that start to accept people are re-collected and put into better situations. However, that rarely happens. A cat that isn't handled by people in the first few weeks is pretty much feral for life.
18
@17 - You worked with neutered feral cats? Are they really that productive? I thought they took a lot of naps during the day time. Were they salaried or something? I'm glad the LA Police has latched on to them, cats look SOOO CUTE in those little police hats.
19
@11, you feed a 21 gauge shotgun shells, duh!
I'm not convinced this is a good idea.
I had a rodent problem once so I invited Richard Gere over for a weekend. By Sunday, there were no rodents, but Richard was have a hard time sitting down from working so hard to get the rodents. I think he didn't stretch enough before rodent hunting...
I think all cats should be outdoor cats. It's cruel to lock them up all day, like a prisoner in a big posh cat prison in my home. Let em out, if they die, oh well, they're kind of mean anyway...ever see a cat torment a half-alive bird or mouse?
I'm not convinced this is a good idea.
I had a rodent problem once so I invited Richard Gere over for a weekend. By Sunday, there were no rodents, but Richard was have a hard time sitting down from working so hard to get the rodents. I think he didn't stretch enough before rodent hunting...
I think all cats should be outdoor cats. It's cruel to lock them up all day, like a prisoner in a big posh cat prison in my home. Let em out, if they die, oh well, they're kind of mean anyway...ever see a cat torment a half-alive bird or mouse?
21
@17 and 15 are correct. The benefits include offering the cats a chance at living -- and all the pleasure and experiences that come with it.
Plus, there aren't environmental harms, but just the opposite: predation makes ecosystems such as rural King County stronger.
I'm a bit troubled by the PR angle the agency has taken, however.
Plus, there aren't environmental harms, but just the opposite: predation makes ecosystems such as rural King County stronger.
I'm a bit troubled by the PR angle the agency has taken, however.
24
@15 Cats? Or maybe overcrowded living conditions, no sewers, no concept of germ theory, no concept of personal hygiene, no garbage collection, no health care and what health care they had was wrong, bad nutrition, no clean water supply, no concept of how to preserve food properly.
Cats should not be allowed to run free as they are too effective predators of birds and oddly enough lizards. Where I live there used to be an abundance of small bug eating lizards, in the last few years there has been an explosion of feral cats and the lizards have almost disappeared.
Cats should not be allowed to run free as they are too effective predators of birds and oddly enough lizards. Where I live there used to be an abundance of small bug eating lizards, in the last few years there has been an explosion of feral cats and the lizards have almost disappeared.
25
i have a small family of feral cats who have lived in my backyard for about 10 years. They were all neutered through a local feral cat group. About once a week or so I find a little rodent head by their food bowl. I almost never see dead birds, which I know doesn’t mean they don’t kill birds, since once one of them killed a pigeon. But they are rats with wings right? I think the barn cat idea is great, it’s not like it hasn’t been working for thousands of years.
26
Just to be clear, I have a cat, an excellent mouser in his younger years, who I adopted from the King County shelter in Kent about a dozen years ago. Oddly, at that time, they made me promise to keep the cat indoors. But my cat had other ideas, and apart from a close run in with a coyote, he has enjoyed the freedom to express his catness.
27
@19 zing! The 1990s called and said "Hello? HELLO?" because their giant cell phones did not get good reception.
28
Like my Granny always said: "You can take the cat out of the barn, but you can't take the barn out of the cat."
29
Cats are an enormous burden on the species they prey upon, the vast majority of which are our native species. Eliminate outdoor cats, and populations of birds, among others will bounce (see http://archive.csis.msu.edu/Publications… ) without any additional environmental measures.
This comes down to pet population management and pet husbandry. The former is entirely inadequate, with dealers and breeders given little incentive to raise healthy, vaccinated and neutered animals in a market that offers no reliable premium for doing so. The answer is adding a surcharge to the cost for purchasing pets and use the funds to regulate their sale and restrict breeding. Lovers of cats and dogs especially need to realize that things like the rescue shelters so in vogue these days are but a bandage approach to the structural problem of over-breeding and unregulated sales. Every time you hear about someone giving away kittens at the supermarket or buying a pet from an unlicensed breeder, you have beheld the reason why millions of cats and dogs are given life with no future than to be put to death as a public nuisance. Don't be complicit in the mass slaughter. Don't buy unregulated pets.
Husbandry is vitally important. Keeping pets on your own property is the law. Pets can be legally trapped by property owners and handed over to public shelters if they stray onto others property. Today, dog owners in Seattle seem much more aware of the law than they used to be when I was growing up, and dogs running loose are relatively rare. I imagine insurers' demands and pet owner legal liability mandates have played a role. But doing the right thing motivates many. Cat owners, it's time for you to step up.
More...
This comes down to pet population management and pet husbandry. The former is entirely inadequate, with dealers and breeders given little incentive to raise healthy, vaccinated and neutered animals in a market that offers no reliable premium for doing so. The answer is adding a surcharge to the cost for purchasing pets and use the funds to regulate their sale and restrict breeding. Lovers of cats and dogs especially need to realize that things like the rescue shelters so in vogue these days are but a bandage approach to the structural problem of over-breeding and unregulated sales. Every time you hear about someone giving away kittens at the supermarket or buying a pet from an unlicensed breeder, you have beheld the reason why millions of cats and dogs are given life with no future than to be put to death as a public nuisance. Don't be complicit in the mass slaughter. Don't buy unregulated pets.
Husbandry is vitally important. Keeping pets on your own property is the law. Pets can be legally trapped by property owners and handed over to public shelters if they stray onto others property. Today, dog owners in Seattle seem much more aware of the law than they used to be when I was growing up, and dogs running loose are relatively rare. I imagine insurers' demands and pet owner legal liability mandates have played a role. But doing the right thing motivates many. Cat owners, it's time for you to step up.
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