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You might just have one cat or maybe even two. They hang around, entertain the children and hopefully catch mice and rats. They may be house pets, loved by the family for their personality and playful nature. They might just be cats that aren't really yours but you still put out food for them. All of these cats are capable of having kittens and all of these cats are the reason that San Pedro now has an overpopulation of our furry feline friends.

Often people say 'Oh I only let her have one litter' or 'I can find homes for them' but if they knew the truth about cats and their amazing ability to reproduce, they would certainly think twice. Just one un-spayed female cat and her mate, along with their offspring will be responsible for producing over eleven million new cats in nine years. Do we really want eleven million cats in San Pedro?

Cat overpopulation in San Pedro is bad news for people and cats. Right now there are hundreds of stray and abandoned cats hiding in bodegas, alleys and only coming out at night to hunt, scavenge and reproduce. These cats rarely live longer than two years as they succumb to injuries and disease. They cause a nuisance by ripping open garbage, fighting and making noise as well as spreading infectious diseases. They have no one to love them or care for them and that is the fault of the people who allowed them to breed and continue to breed. Unfortunately, their irresponsibility has now become the responsibility of the community and SAGA Humane Society.

SAGA Humane Society is already overflowing with cats and kittens. Currently they have almost 30 in their care and very few are being adopted. If you walk around the Town in the evening, you'll see many sad, sick and very skinny cats slinking between the golf carts and cars. So, what can San Pedro do to stop it from raining cats? Neutering and spaying are the only solutions. These are very simple operations that can be performed by the veterinary surgeon and will not only prevent cats from reproducing but will reduce their risk of disease and injury. If our community worked together, we could turn San Pedro into a place where all the cats and kittens have the homes and love that they need and deserve.

If you have a cat or kitten and you want to do the responsible thing, please contact SAGA about spaying or neutering. If you are worried about the cost, let them know and they will do everything they can to assist through Operation SNIP.

Also, this week SAGA is getting a shipment of 1,000 Operation SNIP collars that have been donated and brought in by supporters. The bright green collars are embossed with Operation SNIP and Saga Humane Society. They will be given to all animals sterilized through Operation SNIP, this will help raise awareness in the community about the program and give visibility to how many animals SAGA Humane Society is able to help. Year to date, they have 'SNIP'ped 180 animals and they will be getting their collars soon.

If you know of a stray cat that has had kittens or is pregnant, please let SAGA know. To find out how you can help the cats of San Pedro please call SAGA on 226-3266.

I think SAGA does good for the community but when I read this it makes me upset how they make it sound as if you just have to call and they'll be there. Through many friends and my own experiences you call SAGA about these animals and they never show up. After a while people just stop calling.
Perhaps strays should be trapped and taken to SAGA to be spayed or neutered then released back into their feral community.
Cats, or any domesticated animal, without a responsible owner to take care of them that are spayed and neutered still get sick, spread desease and usually die an unpleasant death. Any dog or cat that does not have a responsible owner to take care of it is better off in dog or cat heaven.
Ambergris Caye certainly does not need a larger "feral community".
I would urge anyone who feels that SAGA is not doing enough to spend some time there as a volunteer to help them do more and to see exactly how much they do achieve with so few resources. They do not receive any funding from the local government although they handle all stray dog issues and they have to spend a great deal of time trying to get financial support from the community.

A great way to help if you are worried about feral cats is to purchase some cat traps for SAGA. Also, contact them to borrow any traps that they may have available and trap cats in your neighbourhood - then take them in to SAGA who will treat them as appropriate.

The reason that it does not work euthanasing feral cats is because every cat that is removed from a colony will be very quickly replaced. By maintaining neutered, rabies vaccinated populations at least they are doing their best to keep the population down. Of course, the only way this can be done effectively is with people from the community volunteering their time to help and that especially means those who complain about the problems.

Unfortunately, as long as there are resources available (food/garbage), the feral cat population will remain steady or grow. Feral cats are a people problem and until we learn how to dispose of our garbage correctly, we will have a feral cat population to deal with. At this stage, even though it is very important to neuter and spay pet cats, that will have no effect on the well established feral cat population on the island.
Whether having real owners or not, these roaming animals who are also not spayed or neutered (capable of breeding) will very quickly (within 3-6 months) replace the animals that were put down. Then we are back to square one, and having to continue killing dogs and cats to only temporarily reduce their numbers, without any long term reduction in animal over-population.

Saga's statistics for 2012 are as follows - these show that the animals allowed to breed freely in private homes are a significant part of the problem of animal over population. People are letting their animals have puppies and kittens. When they cannot or do not want to care for them, they surrender them to Saga HS or let them out into the street.

Dogs Rounded Up : 180
Dogs Returned to Owner: 33 (after payment of a fine)
Surrender (owner left at Saga): 359 Dogs and Cats
Euthanized: 346 Dogs and Cats, 99 were dogs from rounds ups
Adopted Out into New Homes: 168 Dogs and Cats
Spayed/Neutered: 451 Dogs and Cats
Vaccinated: 159 Dogs and Cats
Treated Free of Charge: 134 Dogs and Cats

Human attitudes and behavior must change. Where people and authorities permit uncovered or uncollected garbage bins or dumping of garbage in the streets, animals will settle down, dogs, cats, rats, raccoon's and others.

Where there are dogs and cats in the streets, there will be animal lovers who feel sorry for them and feed them. This results in a vicious circle. The solution, as a community, is to focus our efforts on reducing the number of unwanted dogs and cats being born in San Pedro. The only effective way to reduce these numbers is to stop animals from freely breeding, by having your animals spay/neutered (sterilized) and reduce access to food resources (garbage).

Working together, we can create a situation where NO animals were strays or wandering to breed freely, and NO animals were being born that would not have homes.

All around the world, experience has shown that certain methods over time produce BIG reductions in stray and roaming animal populations. These methods include spaying and neutering; registration and identification; education and informing the public. The only possible way to permanently reduce the total population of stray animals is the use of a comprehensive dog population management program.

This is why a dog elimination plan such as the Roundups do not work: if is not possible to catch ALL the stray breeding animals in a territory within the breeding time of only 2 months, the total population will quickly rise again to the "carrying capacity".

Saga HS has reviewed animal population control data from Humane Society International, WSPCA, WHO, Best Friends and World Vets to come up with a sustainable plan to reduce the number of unwanted animals. These studies and data will be posted on the Saga Website www.sagahumanesociety.org.

These organizations recommend a goal of 75% sterilization in 3-5 years, which would stabilize the current pet population. To achieve this ambitious goal, the community and Saga HS will have to sterilize 25 dogs a week, 30 cats a week for the next 5 years.

Saga would like to request that the Community does its part by doing the following:

-Secure your household garbage in a container that has a locking lid or is otherwise animal-proof, and do not dump trash in empty lots or the bush (this is also important to keep the raccoon and rat population under control);
-Report illegal dumping of trash by others to SPTC;
-Report sale of puppies on the beach/public places to SPTC and Saga HS;
-(Nicely) ask neighbors to address nuisance issues with their dogs - if that fails, report nuisance problems to the police (constant barking, roaming, aggressive behavior to other animals or people, female in heat, getting into yard/garbage)
-Volunteer or donate to Saga HS. We are seeking volunteers to help us achieve our goals.

Help us solve the problems of animal over population.

Coleen Creeden
Saga Humane Society
All very good points. But just for the sake of discussion, how do you suggest controlling the ever increasing population of racoons? Granted these are not normally considered pets, but pose the same health problems as unwanted dogs and cats.
I realize eliminating their food source ie: garbage is helpful, but I doubt that is the total solution.
Control the access to resources, garbage. With the new waste management program on the island there is a new opportunity for the community to get a handle on it's garbage problems. If there is no food for raccoons, rats, dogs, cats to eat, they will not breed as often or spread diseases.
Controlling access to resources
a. the regular removal of garbage from homes and public bins
b. the fencing-in of garbage collection and disposal sites
c. the control of offal and carcass disposal
d. the use of animal-proof bins, such as those with heavy lids, or positioning them out of a animals reach
e. education or enforcement measures to stop people littering
(and hence feeding animals accidentally), and to stop people
purposely feeding dogs in certain areas.

So is your theory they will go elsewhere to find food or the population will descrease for lack of food?
It's not a theory. When there are scant resources, such as food, populations naturally decrease. Infant mortality and litter sizes decrease. On an island, there isn't anywhere else for them to go as feral cats are inclined to depend upon human populations. What is also a fact is that killing them does not decrease the population unless you can kill them all at once.

[quote=collyk]It's not a theory. When there are scant resources, such as food, populations naturally decrease.

Agreed. When humans are not involved and Mother Nature takes control, overpopulation is decreased not only by fewer being born, but by deaths from lack of food and habitat - deaths that are not very "humane" being from starvation and desease.
That is why I believe that when humans upset the balance of nature, they can be more kind to the animals by "sending them to animal heavan" as opposed to fending for themselves in an environment created by humans that does not allow them to live a natural life.
bywarren,

I understand your sentiments, but you are only aiding the population by culling the weak by your practice, not solving the problem. Sterilisation is so far the only known solution as sterlised cats tend to live longer and will prevent their 'niche' from being taken over by reproducing cats. Your idea is great in theory, but simply doesn't work in practice.
Yes eliminating access to resources or garbage will decrease animal populations. They will not move else where, but not breed as frequently or have smaller litters. Where there is extra food, there will be extra animals. And yes sometimes the answer is that simple. What is not simple is changing peoples behavior.

There is NO protection of strays, they are still routinely rounded up and humanely put down. The problem lies with loosely owned animals and owners who feel it's alright to allow their dogs to roam at large in a public place. A resident who doesn't want a dog to walk across their lawn, chase their bike or be in public off leash is right to request that the dog be leashed. That is exactly what "being at large" means and it's against the law. The problem is the dog owners not respecting their neighbors, the community or the law. Yes it seems that sometimes it may be just one guy, one dog. But that can be said of the 5,000 dogs on the island and their owners. This is a large part of the problem in San Pedro, some dog owners think everyone should love and tolerate their dogs. And yes a lot of them see themselves as responsible dog owners and Saga supporters. Having a dog off leash would not be tolerated in San Francisco, Toronto, London or Berlin. We need to shift away from a bystander behavior and toward a culture of mutual respect and community accountability to change that, helping us to identify little problems - like walking dogs off leash on the beach or in public - and much, much larger ones before real harm is done.
Nor does Saga just give them a flea collar and a rabies shot to turn them loose to breed. Yes we practice TNR (Trap Neuter Release) on feral cat populations, as do many other humane societies through out the world. Trap, Neuter and Release (TNR) it essentially involves catching stray animals, sterilizing them, vaccinating them, and then releasing them back to the place they were initially caught. The benefits of such an approach include:
� Reduction in zoonoses transmission.
� Sterilizing stray animals can improve their health by taking away the energy costs of breeding and reduces the risks of injury and disease transmission of breeding.
� Returning a sterilized animal to its original territory reduces migration of other stray animals into that area.
� Stray populations can continue to function as biological control of rodents.
TNR can eventually lead to a stable and healthy population of animals, if the sterilization rate is maintained at a high enough level. However, TNR alone will not address the stray animal problem in the long term while there is an owned population that is not accessible to the catching teams and so not being neutered. TNR instead should be seen as a temporary method that stabilizes the current stray population whilst the sources of stray animals are also addressed for the long-term.


As for dogs rounded up? Most are put down, as are the surrenders at the clinic. The owned ones we do sterilize them if they are at large in a public place without a collar. They are then taken back to their owners, with a Operation SNIP (Spay/Neuter Initiative Program) collar and scolding about having their dogs at large in a public place. Owners are not happy with our efforts to sterilize their dogs or cats, but until they contain their breeding animals within their yards, we will continue to find them and SNIP them.

It is easy to sit at a computer and ask Saga to kill more animals. If you want to help round up animals and decide which one is worthy to live or die, come on down to the clinic we could use the help. Or to complain that Saga doesn't stop the dogs from getting into your garbage, chase golf carts or bite. The problems animal over population were not caused by Saga, but by irresponsible owners who allow them to breed freely and when they can not care for the extra animals turn them into the streets.

We are bringing solutions to the table and working hard to effect change. Who wants to help?
I fully agree there have been positive results using TNR for feral cat overpopulation. I disagree with those who think the same results occur with dogs. Feral cats are basically wild animals capable of fending for themselves given the right environment. Dogs are much less capable and without a responsible owner to take care of them, they are better off in dog heaven,IMO.
Again we DO NOT release stray dogs back into neighborhoods. Truly stray dogs are put down, humanely. Dogs that are SNIPped are owned animals that have been allowed to be at large in a public place. When owners come to understand that will be SNIP their animals if we get them, maybe then they will keep them under control and in their yards.

Here is a link to the Saga HS website with studies about TNR for both cats and dogs, in developing countries. We have taken the time to read current studies from organizations around the world to come up with a plan, Operation SNIP. Read about it here.
Saga Humane Society Operation SNIP
There was a time when SAGA represented itself as a "no kill" shelter. I know that has now changed and believe SAGA is now much more effective. Euthanasia, just like TNR, can be an effective tool to control animal population and needs to be used when the circumstances dictate.
Saga has always been a kill shelter because of public pressure and irresponsible owners. Lets not turn this into how bad Saga is to the animals. Saga has always put down animals, for years. It's just a inconvenient fact people do not want know about or believe. Here are numbers dating back to 2009 Saga HS yearly animal numbers

Bywarren, read the studies on our website. We have and we understand the depths of the over population problem and world class solutions. You might be most interested in Too Many Dogs for starters. It covers euthanasia and TNR for stray dogs.
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