Since this Letter to the Editor was published in a local newspaper I have been asked by several blog readers to post it here again.

There has been recent concern expressed that Kalamazoo County Animal Control has a seven-day adopt or euthanize policy. I agree that euthanasia of dogs and cats is regrettable. However, because of the large number of irresponsible pet owners, Animal Control has no realistic alternative.

That’s one of the reasons I support the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Southwest Michigan and their building a no-kill shelter in our community.

Occasionally, the concept of trap, neuter and release is mentioned. It is expensive, it fails to treat cats humanely, and, most importantly, it is ineffective. Despite the fact that outdoor cats live short lives, cat colonies can easily exist for 10 years or longer. Cats often suffer and live miserable lives in colonies. They are frequently hit by cars, attacked by dogs or wildlife, or ravaged by disease.

Coyotes regularly feed on outdoor cats, according to a study published in the Journal of Wildlife Management. The researchers tracked coyotes and observed 36 coyote-cat interactions, of which 19 resulted in coyotes killing cats. Other studies have found that approximately 13 percent of a coyote’s diet consists of cats. However, during this study, in the 45 instances when coyotes were observed feeding, 42 percent of the meals were cats. In our area, female Great Horned Owls are cat predators as well.

The “theory” behind trap, neuter and release is that colonies will reduce in size, thereby lessening the number of feral cats that can prey on wild animals. The problem is that this does not happen. In fact, colonies often grow in size because the cat food attracts neighborhood cats and colonies serve as dumping grounds for irresponsible owners to abandon their pets. Not every cat can be trapped and therefore not every cat is altered. Unaltered cats continue to reproduce.

Feral cats do not receive regular veterinary care. Therefore, rabies is a risk. Cats often have intestinal parasites, including roundworms and hookworms. They also have external parasites, including fleas and ticks. They may have upper respiratory infections or urinary tract infections. All of these illnesses are almost always left untreated in these cats after they have been released.

Cats do kill mice and rats, but they also kill many non-target species. The domestic cat is a prolific hunter of birds, small mammals, reptiles and amphibians. Cats do not distinguish among the species they kill. More than likely, when a cat is employed to keep pests at bay, the cat is also harming native wildlife. The University of Wisconsin’s Dr. Stanley Temple estimates that cats kill 39 million birds every year in Wisconsin alone.

Outdoor cats not only spread rabies, they are the only species to shed the parasite toxoplasma gondii in their feces. According to the CDC, this parasite can live in the environment for many months and contaminate soil, water, fruits and vegetables, sandboxes, grass where animals graze for food or any place where an infected cat may have defecated. Toxoplasmosis is an infection caused by this parasite. More than 60 million people in the United States carry the toxoplasma parasite. Most states in the northeast now require cats to be vaccinated for rabies and to be licensed. If we were to adopt this policy, Animal Control would have far more resources to bring to bear on nuisance animals.

I’m a bird lover and I am personally appalled at the damage done to wildlife by cats. But that is not what motivates me to write this column. We, as a species, lack respect for the co-inhabitants of the world we share with them. The sentencing of cats to a short, tortured life as well as the harm done to other species makes trap, neuter and release bad for cats and even worse for wildlife.