MENAW Conference

[Guest guest]

I¹ve written to John Wedderburn, who assures me that even though Egypt is

definitely not in Asia, that this may be of general interest, and that it¹s

okay for me to send it.

 

The MENAW (Middle East Network for Animal Welfare) Conference took place in

Cairo early in March. This will be the first of several articles on the

Conference that will appear on the Best Friends Network:

 

The other articles on the Conference will appear over the next couple of

weeks at http://network.bestfriends.org/golocal/international/news.aspx

 

 

EGYPT: ³IS TNR EFFECTIVE?²

http://network.bestfriends.org/golocal/egypt/14630/news.aspx

 

 

The Middle East Network for Animal Welfare (MENAW) Conference 2010, part one

 

 

From March 1 through 3, the MENAW (Middle East Network for Animal Welfare)

Conference met in Cairo, bringing together around 200 delegates from

twenty-five countries for some lively, relevant, and intense discussions ‹

focusing on the three major areas of companion animals, wildlife and farm

animals.

 

One of the key events was the panel discussion, ³Is TNR effective?²

moderated by Kim Bartlett, of Animal People. The topic of TNR for dogs in

Cairo has been and continues to be a major focus for animal groups working

there.

 

Extremely inhumane culling of dogs by the municipalities takes place from

time to time in Egypt, as it does in many developing countries. None of the

animal welfare groups wants the animals to suffer.

The Egyptian groups who are engaged in spaying, neutering, vaccinating,

treating any medical problems, and then returning community dogs to their

neighborhoods want to see the dogs, who are surviving and in many cases

being fed by caring people, be able to continue to live out their natural

lives without being killed.

 

 

The experience in India

 

 

Dr. Chinny Krishna, of Blue Cross of India, who has run highly successful

TNR programs for dogs for the past 45 years, longer than anyone else in the

world, spoke simply and eloquently, ³Killing is not an option. Killing has

never worked and never will work.²

 

Explaining the consequences of killing street animals, in addition to the

basic inhumanity of killing animals, he said, ³The rule is that nature

abhors a vacuum, if dogs are killed, then other animals will move in.² It

has been observed over the years that when street dogs are killed, they are

soon replaced by new dogs moving in from surrounding areas ‹ and by other

species, including rodents, so that nothing is solved, and new problems are

created.

 

Another perspective

 

 

Dr. Nick de Souza, of WSPA, from Kenya, expressed a different perspective,

stating that ³Every area is different Š what we are trying to achieveŠthe

overarching goal Š is to improve the status of the maximum number of roaming

dogs as quickly as possible. Š The root cause is us: human beings. We have

to take into consideration what the majority of the public wants. Š In Cairo

the limiting factor is the public¹s intolerance of roaming dogs. Releasing

dogs back to an area where suffering is likely is irresponsible. Where the

public doesn¹t want the dogs back, authorities will continue to remove the

dogs by shooting or poisoning them. We must ensure that dogs that have to be

destroyed are killed humanely.²

 

 

Italy ‹ the law that was supposed to work

 

 

Dr. Dorothea Friz, a veterinarian, originally from Germany, has been doing

an extraordinary job spaying and neutering animals in Italy. Her

organization, Lega Pro Animala, founded in 1986, has so far spayed and

neutered 40,000 animals. Dr. Friz talked about the overcrowding in many of

the shelters in Italy ‹ overcrowding that means the animals in shelters are

not well cared for. She stated, ³Ideally, the dogs need homes, but with

100,000 dogs on the streets, homes can¹t be found for them all.²

The situation of the dogs in Italy is tied to the passing of a law that was

originally well-intended, requiring communities to house dogs in shelters

until they can be re-homed. The law has not worked well in practice because

of a failure to implement several of its provisions. (Look for a future

Network article on the complexities of the situation in Italy and the work

of Dr. Friz.)

 

 

Cats in the U.S.

 

 

Nikki Sharp, the Manager of Best Friends Campaigns, gave a clarifying

description of the circumstances of companion animals in the U.S., focusing

especially on cats, who sometimes take a backseat to dogs in discussions of

street animals.

Those in other countries are not always aware that there are still around

five million animals being killed every year in U.S. shelters. (Though

thanks to the no-kill movement in the U.S. over the past twenty-five years

or so, this number is now only a fraction of what it used to be.)

 

Many of these five million animals are homeless, feral cats. The Best

Friends Focus on Felines campaign is working to keep these cats out of

shelters, where they may be euthanized, and instead allow them to live out

their natural lives.

Nikki Sharp explained, ³Cats can have up to three litters per year. There

are millions of feral cats; no one really knows how many. Estimates can run

up to 100 million in the U.S. Š Holly Seizmore, the Executive Director of No

More Homeless Pets, has often said that people either love cats or loathe

cats. We can¹t just ignore the people who loathe cats. Š Reasons given

include the deaths of birds and endangered species, and possible spread of

diseases.²

³A successful TNR program needs to be realistic, and needs to aim to reach

nearly 100 percent of the cats in an area. There need to be educational

components, vaccinations, community involvement, and continued monitoring.²

 

³A plan is needed for what to do if a cat cannot be returned to his or her

colony² ‹ for example, provision needs to be made for ³a blind cat or a

3-week-old kitten.² For this, community involvement is essential.

Nikki Sharp went on to talk about a few of the successes of the nationwide

Focus on Felines campaign. Now throughout the city of Jacksonville, Florida,

no cats are ending up in shelters (where they were frequently euthanized).

Instead every cat is spayed/neutered and returned. To let people know what

is happening, door hangers are put up, saying that the cats are being

spayed/neutered ‹ and that they¹ll soon be back in their neighborhoods.

In the town of Randolph, Iowa, where the mayor had originally set a bounty

on the heads of feral cats, he reversed his decision and has for some time

now been doing a TNR program instead!

In the deserts around Las Vegas where casinos used to target cats as

³pests,² there are now well-monitored feeding stations set up, with TNR cats

‹ no longer reproducing ‹ who are happily carrying on with their lives.

 

TNR for cats is being carried out all across Utah, and the euthanasia rate

for cats in the state has plummeted.

While circumstances vary from country to country, cats are always cats, and

many of the same means and policies can be found to be useful in many

countries.

 

Different challenges

 

 

There are differing situations though. Dr. Hassan Shafik, of the Egyptian

Veterinary Services, shared his expertise on some of the obstacles and

complications that may be faced while doing TNR in Egypt and in other

developing countries. There are issues with garbage and with the spread of

diseases. After spaying, dogs need to be kept for at least one or two days

to prevent infections, and kennels may not be available for this purpose. So

all these factors need to be thought through.

 

 

" TNR is possible! "

 

 

Mona Khalil, one of the founders of the animal welfare organization ESMA,

who run a shelter in Cairo, and a vocal advocate for animals, stated, ³As a

Moslem, we do not accept euthanasia either for people or for animals.² She

stressed that human populations, even those in poorer areas where there is

sometimes a high rate of illiteracy, can quickly change their perceptions

and their awareness of animals. ³People may complain a lot, but if they

learn that there is an option, then they can adapt. Š Egypt can have a very

successful TNR policy. Š We are still spending huge amounts of money on

poison Š but TNR is possible in Egypt.²

The TNR panel discussion felt like a very useful conversation to have. One

of the strongest features of the MENAW Conference was allowing varying, and

differing, views to be expressed openly.

 

As one of the leading no-kill animal welfare organizations, Best Friends is

opposed to killing neighborhood dogs and cats in any country. Best Friends

has, with coalition partners, conducted TNR training programs for vets in

Mexico, Peru, and Ethiopia, (and soon in Haiti) as well as providing support

for TNR programs in Asia and Central America. It has been our experience

that there are people in every country in the world who love animals and who

can be brought together and empowered to work to protect and care for

neighborhood dogs and cats.

Look for several stories soon to follow on the MENAW Conference, on the

many aspects of animal welfare covered during the conference, and on the

people who are helping animals throughout the Middle East.

For more on the viewpoints expressed above, and the groups represented,

please visit these sites:

 

€ The MENAW website <http://www.menaw.net/client/index.html>

€ Animal People Newspaper <http://www.animalpeoplenews.org/>

€ Blue Cross of India <http://bluecrossofindia.org/>

€ WSPA <http://www.wspa-international.org/>

€ Lega Pro Animale <http://legaproanimale.org/>

€ Best Friends Focus on Felines campaign

<http://network.bestfriends.org/campaigns/felines/default.aspx>

€ ESMA <http://www.esmaegypt.org/>

 

Photos: Sharon St Joan

Top photo: Dr. Chinny Krishna speaking at the

Conference

Second photo: street dogs at Sakkara

Third photo: a street dog at

Sakkara

Fourth photo: Nikki Sharp, visiting the Egyptian Society of Animal

Friends

Fifth photo: One of the kittens at ESMA, with a friend

Sixth photo: Mona

Khalil, with one of the cats at ESMA

Seventh photo: A moment at the

Conference

 

 

Thank you!

 

Sharon St Joan

International Editor

Best Friends Network

Best Friends Animal Society

http://network.bestfriends.org/golocal/international

sharonsj

[Guest guest]

>Nikki Sharp explained, " Cats can have up to three litters per year.

>There are millions of feral cats; no one really knows how many.

>Estimates can run up to 100 million in the U.S.

 

 

There is a lesson here for Asia, but I will have to meander

around the long way to get to it.

 

As I pointed out from the floor at MENAW, with no intent to

point the finger in particular at Nikki Sharp, people need to quit

repeating the absolute rubbish that she repeated from other sources,

which has the effect of obscuring the realities that:

 

# We actually have a great deal of information about the size

of the U.S. feral cat population, more than about most wildlife

species;

 

# No data-based estimate has ever exceeded 40 million; that

the feral cat population is now just a fraction of what it was then,

before the advent of neuter/return;

 

# Excessive claims about the numbers of feral cats have the

dual effect of demoralizing neuter/return practitioners and causing

birders to raise a hue-and-cry for the extermination of feral cats,

since the absurdly high numbers suggest that 20 years of

neuter/return work have failed.

 

When feral cat advocates themselves repeat such poppycock,

they merely stoke birders' fears, to the further detriment of feral

cats.

 

In February 2007 the Humane Society of the U.S. and Maddie's

Fund co-hosted a gathering in Houston that brought together all of

the leading U.S. animal population demographers and analysts to try

to produce some agreed-upon general estimates of the numbers in a

variety of areas. About 20 organizations were represented. The

most-discussed topic was the feral cat population.

 

None of the data brought to the table by any of the

participants indicated a U.S. feral cat population greater than 16

million, or a combined number of feral cats and roaming pet cats

greater than 35 million.

 

My estimate, which I believe to be the most credible, is

that the U.S. feral cat population currently fluctuates between about

6.5 million in the dead of winter and 12.5 million in the middle of

summer. I have been producing and reviewing feral cat population

estimates since 1991, longer than anyone else, and am the person

who produced the high estimate of 40 million.

 

At that time, this was 40% of the total U.S. cat population.

Many of the grossly exaggerated numbers that are thrown about today

are based on projections that since the number of owned cats in the

U.S. has increased to 90 million, the feral cat population must have

increased proportionately.

 

Actually, it has gone exactly the opposite way, and the

numbers of owned but roaming pet cats have held steady at about 30

million. Most of the increase in the numbers of owned cats has

occurred among the indoor population, and has occurred because

indoor cats have approximately twice the longevity of cats who go

outdoors.

 

There is a strong hint from the survey work done by John

Marbanks in 1927, 1937, and 1947-1950 that the U.S. outdoor cat

population (pets and ferals combined) rose gradually from about 20

million when he began his work to about 30 million when he finished,

and continued to rise until 1991, more or less parallel to the

growth of the U.S. human population.

 

Then, after the advent of neuter/return, the feral cat

population crashed and the roaming pet cat population leveled off,

coincidental with the recovery of urban wildlife including hawks,

owls, eagles, coyotes, foxes, and fishers, all of whom consume

the same prey as cats and also prey to some extent on cats and

kittens.

 

The lesson for Asia is that as populations of either feral

cats or street dogs are sterilized, a tipping point will come when

the species being sterilized is no longer able to occupy the habitat.

At the tipping point, which is likely to come abruptly, the animals

being sterilized will rapidly be displaced by other species,

including rats, monkeys, pigs, and jackals, all of whom may be

much more problematic than the cats or dogs.

 

It is thus essential to educate the public and policy makers

that so long as food sources remain accessible, meaning mostly

improperly handed garbage, cities will attract scavenging animals.

City governments may have some choice about which species they have,

but not having scavenging animals of some kind is not an option

permitted by nature.

 

Using exaggerated animal population estimates, meanwhile,

may tend to make the tipping point more of a surprise. If one claims

to have 100,000 street dogs, for example, where there are actually

just 30,000, the tipping point will come at about 21,000

sterilizations performed, and the habitat will be ceded to rats,

cats, monkeys, and pigs at a point when there are presumed to be

about 70,000 dogs left, when in actuality there at just 9,000 &

those are in retreat.

 

 

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

Telephone: 360-579-2505

Fax: 360-579-2575

E-mail: anmlpepl

Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org

 

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