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| Dr. Flockhart removes a tracking collar. Photo credit: Eric Foss/CBC |
Accurate data do not exist regarding the feral cat population in Ontario. Dr. Tyler Flockhart is a post-doctoral fellow that is studying feline overpopulation and its management. In 2012, the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies estimated that approximately 600,000 cats in Canadian shelters did not find homes. According to Toronto Animal Services, in 2014 the feral cat population in Toronto was approximately 100,000.
One issue is that no one knows how many feral cats reside in Canada. Not only do feral cats disturb gardens and yowl at night, it is also believed that in Canada they kill hundreds of millions of songbirds each year. Cats can also carry toxoplasmosis; a parasitic disease that can infect humans.
The Chair of Guelph Humane Society, Dr. Shane Bateman said, "A good scientific look at history would tell us that the current model [euthanizing stray cats that do not find homes] just simply doesn't work. There are probably more cats today than there have ever been, and so euthanizing and trying to get ahead of the population explosion that way just simply isn't a good option, and it's a very, very unpalatable option for communities who are more and more concerned about animal welfare. Everybody has an opinion and sometimes those opinions can be very passionate and that only adds to the challenge around this work."
The Chair of Guelph Humane Society, Dr. Shane Bateman said, "A good scientific look at history would tell us that the current model [euthanizing stray cats that do not find homes] just simply doesn't work. There are probably more cats today than there have ever been, and so euthanizing and trying to get ahead of the population explosion that way just simply isn't a good option, and it's a very, very unpalatable option for communities who are more and more concerned about animal welfare. Everybody has an opinion and sometimes those opinions can be very passionate and that only adds to the challenge around this work."
Flockhart said, "People are looking for solutions and quite often those solutions need to deviate from what's been done over the past 30, 50, 60 years."
In 2014, Toronto started a trap, neuter, return program. Bateman said, "Until we have more scientific information about the utility and importance of tools like trap-neuter-return or accessible or low-cost spay-neuter, it's difficult to know because these are huge resource-intensive programs and projects."
"We have pretty good information on the number of cats that come in and go out of animal shelters, but we don't know the number of cats on the street for sure, and we don't even really know the proportion of cats that have indoor-outdoor access. These are really basic questions that require numbers so that we can address the magnitude of the risk and how we might address it", said Flockhart.
Flockhart is performing research to answer several critical questions. He is developing a population model for cats and is tracking feral cats in Toronto and Guelph to examine their movements. Flockhart’s research should provide crucial information on feral cat populations and successful management of Canada’s feral felines. Flockhart will be presenting this research at the Summit for Urban Animal Strategies in Lake Louise this October.
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