FERAL CAT - WILDLIFE IMPACT STUDY (DIARY)

CONDUCTED SEPTEMBER 2003

By Share Bond

In late August 2003, I was called by Melinie DiLuck of Happy Tails, a feral cat rescue in Sacramento, CA to ask for my help. She wanted to know what changes they could make to not have a negative impact on the affected wildlife. 127 skunks, some opossum, raccoon, and even some black and white cats were murdered in the middle of the night and she and her group didn't want that to ever happen again.

For weeks afterwards the cat people were finding injured and dead animals. Although 127 were bagged and evidence taken away, those animals that were injured and died later upped the death toll.

For a few days we had phone and internet meetings, and after having no success with the local animal control or marina, I packed my things and drove to Sacramento from Los Angeles. I made up a Petition, brought my educational materials on how to coexist with wildlife, and a notebook to do the study, which ended up being six days of intensive research.

I went back and forth between the two affected parks next to the marina to study both cat colonies, as well as interview cat feeders and locals that might be affected by the cats and wildlife both in the park and marina. Hardly anyone had any complaints.

I never left the study area day or night, except for a breakfast meeting with the local cat organizations, to go to the local television station, and a couple other stops. The rest of the time was spent doing the study, and training the local feral cat people, both non-profits and individuals.

The Study

Upon arriving at the upper park at 2:00 p.m. on a Sunday, I witnessed about fifteen huge mounds of dry cat kibble actually on the parking lot pavement, as well as various filled plastic bowls under the trees. I saw that there were two cat shelters hidden under the trees, and also noticed that there was a lot of trash around, much of it left after the cat food was eaten. Seeing that there was a cat table shoved down a hill (see below), I lugged it back up and set it securely in place to enable the cats to eat from a raised station.

I swept up about fifteen pounds of kibble and put in a plastic bag to keep in my truck. All the cats were lying about content with no desire to eat for the rest of the day, but late in the afternoon in broad daylight about 25 skunks came out to find the kibble that was usually there. After cleaning up the crumbs that remained, they quickly went back into hiding.

Knowing that having large numbers of skunks out in broad daylight would be a concern, the first night I called the cats to come eat their dinner in bowls and up on that feeding station after dark. Quite a few of them came, and even the skunks, but they couldn't figure out where the kibble was so wandered off. The cats could jump up to eat, but they could not.

After a while, momma raccoon and her four youngsters came out of hiding to have their dinner, and figured out that all they had to do was stand at the edge and pull the bowls down. Back came the skunks to fight the raccoons for their share. This was the last night I allowed any food out while wild animals were visible.

During each night various local independent cat feeders would come to feed the cats and enjoy watching the wild critters. While some would feed canned food and take their trash with them, others had the intention of just dumping food and leaving, but I talked to each one of them to ask that they stick with our procedure and not jeopardize our study.

The morning of the day two Melinie gathered her group and other local cat organizations for a breakfast meeting and training session. I explained my goals for the study and asked that everyone stick with the rules: 1) call the cats when they arrive, 2) only feed on the raised feeding stations that we were building, 3) take all food (even if not theirs) back with them when they left, 4) stay long enough to supervise the feeding and take the time to clean up the park, interview and educate the locals, and identify those that are dumping more animals. (While there we caught four cars of people dumping kittens, a dog, and some baby raccoons. Another suspicious car left bowls of antifreeze to kill the cats.)

Day Two, I made sure that there was no unsupervised feedings by anyone and started meetings with a local man named Donald that lived in the park in his motor home.

Donald helped with the care of the cats long before I arrived and was willing to build the cat feeders to my specifications. We flagged people down to ask for donations of building materials; numerous people dropped off 2 x 4s, plywood, nails, paint and even carpet. Once it was built we painted them white with designs of cats and skunks on them, as well as neatly-printed signs with rules on the side to educate the public on proper feral cat feeding:

DO NOT FEED WILDLIFE.

ONLY FEED ON TOP OF FEEDING STATIONS.

SUPERVISE CAT FEEDINGS AND TAKE FOOD WHEN YOU LEAVE.

DO NOT ABANDON ANIMALS. IT IS AGAINST THE LAW.

Below are pictures of what I call the "feral cat condo". (The actual design will be at the end of this report.) At the base is a shelter from rain and cold which is carpeted, and a hanging flap to allow access but keep the cold out. On the roof (three feet from the ground) was where the cats were to be fed. This too was carpeted and had a lip of two inches to keep the kibble from being knocked down onto the ground. This height made it impossible for the wild animals to get access, but then again, we had no food there while they were around. On top of this feeding area was a second feeding level (for the more stealth jumpers and to add more room for eating), with this level giving shade to the lower feeding level (where the smaller, weaker and older cats could jump).

The design is multi-functional taking up the least amount of space. We made up several different designs.

The second night a couple more feeding stations were in place in the river park, so I started feeding by the rules. Quite a few wild animals milled about for quite a while trying to figure out where their dinner was, soon gave up and left. There was no food around at all.

Day Three, all the cats were running for their dinner when called. By that night barely any wild animals showed up, and with no more food left unsupervised on the ground, none during the day.

With things under control, I spent the day interviewing the locals and getting Petition signatures. I did not find ONE person with complaints about the cats or wild animals, only those that hated that they were killed! Several boaters admitted that it was because of one rich boater that was an attorney who threatened the marina owner with a lawsuit "if any of those rabid skunks spray his grandson while visiting his boat, he would sue and end up owning the marina"! One word of lawsuit from one person and that's all it takes to launch a murderous assault on innocent lives!!

As to the stories told by one or two boaters of being chased or sprayed by skunks and of cats on their vehicles, those are the only complaints that were supplied to the marina to get them to respond aggressively. The marina employees are pawns to keep their renters happy. Even though 100's of other boat space renters and locals that frequent the adjoining parks signed our Petition to stop killing the wildlife and leaving the feral cats alone, the marina and County agencies involved continue to cater to the few malcontents who have been making the REAL stink! They are demanding that the "original" residents be evacuated. Management by Death is back on the books!!

After the night of the animal slaughter, some of the locals expressed how horrifying it was to not only hear hundreds of gun shots and animal screams, but the duration and skunk stench that they had to endure. One of these people was a boater that docked in that Marina and he and his family were staying in their boat that disturbing night. He had nightmares for weeks afterwards.

The local street people advised me that additional shootings were taking place by gun-toting officials of various agencies, but this was to kept very quiet. The allegations were denied, of course, since who would take the word of street people? Any evidence laying around were long ago removed.

By the night of Day Three, the feral cats and wild animals were totally trained. All the cats would run when they were called, since they knew that was the only time there would be food for them. This was a great opportunity to make head counts and capture those that needed spay or neutering, inoculations, de-wormed, and possible placement. Many are returned because they are too wild, but at least they can't breed any more. Also, if a few wild animals were coming at all, it was in the middle of the night.

I had on-site meetings with the local police, security patrols and animal control to have them cite those that are caught (or reported as) dumping animals at feral cat projects. Abandonment is a cruel act!

On Day Four, things were going smoothly - the feral cat people were following the rules, the animals were making The Study a success as well, and we were frantically building the condos to have pictures of them completed for the morning meeting on Day Six.

That night there wasn't a single wild animal to be seen unless you were trying to find one. The study was going smoothly.

On Day Five, we did all the finishing touches - carpeting, painting white with designs, and the important signs (since the county had yet to place professional signs around the park). Donald is a wonderful artist so painted cats and did the lettering on the condos. I painted the majority of the white and added my signature skunks - two skunks looking at a sign that said "No Skunks Allowed". (This would have been a great community project news story, but now they have been destroyed, but I DO still have my pictures!!)

The marina started having Donald harassed by asking him to leave the study area. This man saves tax dollars - cleaning the park, not only after himself but others, keeps the area safe, cares for the cats, and protects The Project by supervising the feeders and witnessing those that abandon animals there on a regular basis!! (HE is doing the job that the County SHOULD BE DOING!!) Not being allowed to park there at night just means that the animals will be dumped (and fed improperly) in the middle of the night. Back will come the wild animals, back will come the paranoia, and back will come the shootings!!

While working on our beautiful condos, the marina manager informed me that I was not allowed to attend the meeting the next morning. I responded that I felt she was not only being unfair and discriminating against me and skunks, that it was ridiculous because I had pertinent important study information for the meeting. It is quite obvious they didn't want good evidence on our side!

I was given very good care and support by Melinie's cat organization - with some bringing ice daily for my cooler, water, food, and even some home cooked meals. The last night one of the gals picked me up so I could shower to ready for the meeting.

Pictures were taken and developed in time for the next days meeting. Notes were put together and graphs made on Melinie's computer.

On the morning of  Day Six, I waited in the lobby of the building where the meeting was to take place. (Hey, I never said I wouldn't come!) Much to their dismay, there I was attempting to enter the meeting room, so I was blocked and told to wait until they found out if "there was room for me".

I was told that a county woman (Kathy) stated that I shouldn't be allowed to participate in the meeting because I was a "fraud, a terrorist, and in big trouble in Canada". This, of course, is a ridiculous lie made up by CA Fish and Game and spread to Sacramento to destroy my credibility, The Study and their plot to thwart all attempts to save these animals! F&G also made sure that none of the media would cover this story!!

Well, Bob Reder (HSUS Rep. Representing all the animals), and Melanie (representing the feral cats) stood up for me stating that they had personally invited me to attend the meeting and that after the exhaustive, but successful, study, they would walk if I were excluded from the meeting.

So out came the marina manager to announce that I, and another person (representing another feral cat organization), could now attend the meeting, but I was told that I could only speak for ten minutes at the end of the meeting. Of course, I added my comments when and where and for how long it was necessary any chance I could! If I had waited for the last ten minutes (since they ran way over anyway), I would have never had a chance to say anything at all!!!! (By the way, there was PLENTY of space for us at the table!!)

The meeting went well from the standpoint that our side presented great information - against their feeble attempts at fighting us, but the government works at a slow painful process, especially when opposed.

When I brought up the topic about having the local police, security patrols and animal control patrol and cite those that are caught (or reported as) dumping animals at feral cat projects, it was met with very low enthusiasm. Objections voiced were low probability that any witness would show up at court and whether there would be good enough descriptions of offenders. My reply was that a license plate number, car and people descriptions would be good enough, and that these are things that should be "watched for" as they are patrolling the area. Then they can take action while the abandoners are "in the act". They should be cited then and there!

Our side brought up the fact that during the six days of The Study, we witnessed (and tried to turn in) four cars/people - two were dumping kittens, one a puppy, and another two raccoon kits. Without the organized Project with Donald overseeing it on a regular basis, even MORE animals will be dumped on a daily basis!!

I suggested that not only should Donald get a special pass to park his camper in the park, but should be deputized, or better yet, paid for all the important work he does for the community!! This suggestion was received enthusiastically by our side, but right after the meeting Donald was mysteriously run off of the property!!!

After the meeting I packed up and left after having lunch with Melinie, saying my goodbyes to Donald, and the cats, but I have not given up the fight, nor have the local feral cat organizations!

On the drive home a strange plane flew over my truck, and after pulling over to get out of my vehicle to watch to see what it was doing, I had to quickly return to keep from having tons of pesticides dumped on me. My truck was covered! This is the "system" that we are trying to fight. What a finale!

Although I have been kept abreast of meetings that followed, and any updates, things were painfully slow and manipulated to work against the feral cat project. After all our work and having the condos placed in a good safe place where they would do the most education, it was decided by the marina/county committee that they should be schlepped far out of sight, which will make it more difficult and less safe for the feral cat people to approach after dark. This will encourage people to stop adhering to the rules.

They also decided to displace the colonies to another location.

We have proven that The Study worked, but I guess they think we can't fight city hall..?

After receiving regular updates from further meetings, and finding out how the county opposing team is showing "their hand" they really never even planned to budge an inch! Why did we bother in the first place???

More skunks have been killed (how, I wonder?) and I've been notified that there are hardly ANY left!! All of our hard work building these wonderful cat "stations" was for naught since they have removed and destroyed them ALL!!!!

I now realize why I was given such a hard time during the study and meeting . . . The Study was a threat to their plans! Any publicity that I would have received would have made them look unpopular and gain public sympathy for our good cause!!

I heard that Donald was run off permanently and I fear that we have no way to ever contact him again. I wish we had done what I suggested long ago - to do a human interest story about him and how important his work is! Maybe it isn't too late, and we can find him through the article?

Just as we feared, people are back dumping animals constantly!!

City Animal Care is still bad-mouthing me and harassing the cat groups for associating with me. The County stated that my references should have been checked. Haven't they ever heard of DEEDS, NOT WORDS??? My dedicated action far outweighs any alleged accusations and implications they can throw around!! I PROVED that I know what I'm talking about and did something that has never been done before - The Study. I took a LOT of time and gave up comfort to fight for the lives of innocent animals!! The County agencies just hate it that they look badly in comparison!! . . . It' time to get legal aid!!!