A Chicago animal shelter has released over 1,000 feral cats into the streets in an attempt to combat the city’s rat problem.
Chicago topped pest control company Orkin’s 2020 Top 50 Rattiest Cities List for the sixth time last year.
The Community Cats Program Manager at Tree House Human Society, Sarah Liss, told Fox News that the organization had noticed the cats making a positive difference on Chicago streets even before the Cats at Work program.
She said that the rat population was “significantly decreasing and even going away for a lot of folks who [were] taking care of [the] cats. That is when Tree House “put two-and-two together.”
Cats at Work began in 2012 to help combat the issue using an “environmentally friendly” control method and help the cats.
The feral cats – which have been rescued, neutered and vaccinated – are placed two or three at a time into residential or commercial settings under the care of a registered caretaker.
The cats then get used to their environment in confinement for three weeks before their release.
According to the Tree House website, the feral cats in Cats at Work colonies would not be able to thrive in a shelter or home environment. They also needed to be relocated for various reasons.
“Feral cats can’t come inside and live the life of an indoor cat. They tend to be either extremely destructive because they’re trying to escape the indoor environment or they hide constantly. They just don’t do well indoors,” Liss said. “So, when a feral cat has to be removed from the environment that they’re used to living in, there really aren’t any positive options for that. It’s either that they get moved to a new place or – unfortunately – they would need to be euthanized because there isn’t an indoor option for them.”
She also said that trying to force the feral cats to live inside would be “extremely inhumane.”
“Having this second chance to get moved to a new location, having a caregiver that cares about them and wants to take care of them for the rest of their lives – it’s essentially a second chance at life for these cats,” Liss said.
As mandated by Cook County’s 2007 Managed Care of Feral Cats Ordinance, cats in the program are managed for the rest of their lives with support from Tree House.
Their presence on the streets alone repels rats, but cats have also been known to hunt and catch rats as well.
Tree House says other methods to catch the rodents, such as poison and traps, are short-term solutions and mostly ineffective because there is a continuous food supply for the rodents and burrows are quickly repopulated.
Poison and baiting tactics – that Liss said the city still uses – are also dangerous to more than just rats, especially when used around homes and businesses.
To fight rodent infestations, community members can request the assistance of colonies for a fee of $600 to $800. However, there is currently a “long waitlist.”
According to Liss, the money gives the cats crate rentals, heating pads, litter boxes and heated water bowls.
New York City has also turned to feral cats to fight its rat problem, with the 2016 introduction of the Feral Cat Initiative.
That is very interesting, You’re an excessively professional blogger. I have joined your rss feed and look ahead to seeking more of your fantastic post. Additionally, I’ve shared your website in my social networks|
I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own weblog and was wondering what all is needed to get set up? I’m assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny? I’m not very internet smart so I’m not 100 positive. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks|
Right here is the right web site for anyone who hopes to find out about this topic. You know so much its almost hard to argue with you (not that I really would want to…HaHa). You certainly put a brand new spin on a topic which has been discussed for ages. Excellent stuff, just wonderful!|
Good day! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with Search Engine Optimization? I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good results. If you know of any please share. Appreciate it!|
Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the video to make your point. You obviously know what youre talking about, why throw away your intelligence on just posting videos to your blog when you could be giving us something informative to read?|
I will immediately grasp your rss feed as I can not find your e-mail subscription hyperlink or e-newsletter service. Do you’ve any? Please allow me recognize so that I could subscribe. Thanks.|
Hi my friend! I wish to say that this article is amazing, great written and come with approximately all significant infos. I would like to look more posts like this .|
Good day very nice site!! Guy .. Excellent .. Amazing .. I will bookmark your web site and take the feeds additionally? I’m happy to search out numerous helpful info here in the submit, we want develop extra strategies on this regard, thank you for sharing. . . . . .|
Good way of explaining, and good post to obtain data on the topic of my presentation subject matter, which i am going to deliver in college.|
Really when someone doesn’t be aware of after that its up to other viewers that they will help, so here it happens.|
This blog was… how do you say it? Relevant!! Finally I’ve found something which helped me. Thanks a lot!|