No avoiding the sad truth of feral cats





Last modified: 12/4/2014 1:12:56 AM

It’s easy to understand why someone would be upset with the outcome of Gail Sherman’s story. The Weare woman brought a family of feral cats to the Pope Memorial SPCA of Concord-Merrimack County. All of them – mother and kittens – were euthanized.



Sherman spoke to the Monitor about her unhappiness. Shelter Executive Director Heather Faria didn’t sound pleased either, but from an opposing viewpoint. Feral cats are “very difficult” and “basically unable to be handled,” she told reporter Nick Reid.



No one wants to be part of a situation in which animals are put to sleep. But in this case it’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that SPCA staff acted correctly. Put simply, feral cats are a nuisance. They are the animal version of an invasive species. The population should be reduced by no-kill methods whenever possible, but sometimes more severe measures like euthanasia are necessary.



Adult feral cats can’t be rehabilitated, and the kittens have an incredibly small window of time – some 10 weeks – in which they could plausibly be turned into pets. They take a toll on other animals, too. Both feral cats and house cats roaming free kill 1.4 billion to 3.7 billion birds a year, according to a piece last year in the Washington Post. That same population kills some billions of wild mammals each year, too. We’re losing important biological diversity to a feline threat that is too often enabled by well-meaning humans.



The shortest version of this? People should spay and neuter their pets. They should not try to rescue wild animals. These creatures are not our playthings, and they are not adorable little people. They are inhabitants of a different world, and its rules and order should be respected. If people don’t take the preventative measures necessary to reduce these populations, then more and more feral cats will be put to sleep. It will be necessary to preserve our wild spaces.



Empathy is a laudable trait in humanity. The ability to feel what others feel allows us to make great gestures of sacrifice. But empathy can fall short when we try to use it as a tool in our interactions with animals. What’s best for them, and what’s best for our feelings, isn’t always the same thing.



Could the SPCA have acted differently? Could it have let Sherman know more about its plans? Absolutely. But its actions, given what we know of the toll inflicted by feral cats, were absolutely appropriate.





