8/6/20 Thank you for being here! TODAY'S LEARNING OBJECTIVES - PDF document

8/6/20 Thank you for being here! TODAY'S LEARNING OBJECTIVES • Articulate the kitten challenge in North America. Specifically, what do kittens need from us and how many kittens need it. • Identify the most successful kitten management strategies and understand how and why those strategies are successful • Define your shelter’s kitten philosophy and goals. Engage your community in your kitten strategy. 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 1 What does diversion mean? • To change course from one direction to another 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 2 To admit or not to admit? KITTEN INTAKE CONSIDERATIONS FOR ANIMAL SHELTERS Dr . Kate Hurley, DVM, MPVM 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 3 Maddie's Fund | Million Cat Challenge 1

8/6/20 I (we) meant well Get lost cats home! • Find homes for cats • that need them! Prevent suffering! • Reduce • overpopulation! 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 4 But then I (we) learned more • Get lost cats home! • Find homes for cats that need them! • Prevent suffering! • Reduce overpopulation! 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 5 The right tool for the job • Sterilize, vaccinate and return for • Traditional shelter pathway for owner surrendered cats 1 and: most healthy unowned cats brought to the shelter 1 • Social kittens on a pathway to adoption • Healthy feral cats to stabilize populations in the community and • Unhealthy stray/free roaming cats limit euthanasia at the shelter (sick/injured/poor body condition) • Healthy friendly stray/free roaming • Cruelty, abuse and neglect cases cats to maximize • Interventions for significant nuisance spayed/neutered/vaccinated cats situations/public health or wildlife reunited with their families risk • As an avenue to open doors with • As an avenue to open doors with community members who would not community members and encourage otherwise go to the shelter engagement with the shelter 1 When pet safety net/home to home options are not appropriate 1 Or divert to TNR/low cost spay/neuter 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 6 Maddie's Fund | Million Cat Challenge 2

8/6/20 It worked! 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 7 It worked, really, really well 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 8 The Final Frontier 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 9 Maddie's Fund | Million Cat Challenge 3

8/6/20 But what about the babies? 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 10 Let’s switch gears 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 11 Oh no! 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 12 Maddie's Fund | Million Cat Challenge 4

8/6/20 Officer Hurley to the rescue! ??? 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 13 Hmm. Now what? 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 14 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 15 Maddie's Fund | Million Cat Challenge 5

8/6/20 It’s like they read my mind! 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 16 Uh oh… 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 17 Oh my 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 18 Maddie's Fund | Million Cat Challenge 6

8/6/20 Yep. 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 19 But what about this??? > 80% nestling mortality by one month of age 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 20 Let’s go back to the google 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 21 Maddie's Fund | Million Cat Challenge 7

8/6/20 Whoa…. 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 22 How to really be a hero • The main thing to remember is; as long as the baby is mostly feathered and being attended by its parents, it’s just where it needs to be. Only if it’s trapped in a storm drain, naked, injured, cornered by a cat, or after several hours has not been visited by its parents is it appropriate to intervene. Even in most of those cases, simply creating a makeshift nest out of a basket and securing it to a tree, or placing the baby in a bush and leaving the area, is much better than taking it away to a facility. 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 23 Ok ok 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 24 Maddie's Fund | Million Cat Challenge 8

8/6/20 Wow it’s true 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 25 What does that have to do with these? 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 26 Understanding a prolific species 30-80 million community cats in U.S. 2% sterilized 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 27 Maddie's Fund | Million Cat Challenge 9

8/6/20 Understanding a prolific species “If you take a mythical cat…and let her and her offspring reproduce at the theoretical rate over…18 years…, you'd have a cat population of nearly 50 trillion. If each cat weighed, on average, five pounds, this catastrophically huge feline colony would weigh 120 billion tons” 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 28 Risk by design > 80% nestling mortality by one • Many species have a relatively month of age large number of offspring and low survival • Evolutionary strategy allowing rapid adaptation to changes in 75% kitten resource availability and density mortality by 4 months of age • Breed to the carrying capacity of the environment 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 29 But not quite the same Exist in the wild Exist as pets Feeding often supplemented Reproduction can be surgically Exist in the wild controlled Publicly and privately funded rehoming, relocation and euthanasia programs are common 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 30 Maddie's Fund | Million Cat Challenge 10

8/6/20 And definitely not our way 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 31 How do we bend this curve? 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 32 Here’s what won’t work “Removals brought about a drastic reduction “ Contrary to expectation , the relative in pack size and a corresponding decrease in abundance and activity of feral cats density. However ... With increasing prey and increased in the cull-sites, even though the numbers of cats captured per unit effort reduced coyote density, mean litter size during the culling period declined. Increases doubled in the removal area compared to pre-removal levels.” in minimum numbers of cats known to be alive ranged from 75% to 211% during the culling period, compared with pre- and post- cull estimates.” 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 33 Maddie's Fund | Million Cat Challenge 11

8/6/20 Here’s what might work Say no to false Recognize human Work in balance with Think upstream dichotomies emotions capacity 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 34 What’s the smartest place to invest resources? We define preventable deaths as those that could likely be reduced or eliminated using an alternative population management approach, specifically the deaths of kittens under six months that fail to reach adulthood, and the deaths of adult cats due to lethal management. 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 35 “Cumulative preventable deaths And the winner is… and cumulative kitten deaths over 10 years are much lower for higher-intensity sterilization (TNR) than for all other scenarios.” 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 36 Maddie's Fund | Million Cat Challenge 12

8/6/20 Smart high intensity “Never let a kitten intake go to waste” 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 37 Balance need and capacity Condition Ability: foster homes, shelter housing, staff for care and Age management, medical/surgical services, outcome pathway Situation 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 38 Prioritize shelter and foster support resources for highest need Feral with mom? Social with mom? True orphans Sick, injured Dangerous situation 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 39 Maddie's Fund | Million Cat Challenge 13

8/6/20 Replace false dichotomies with win/win solutions Can you provide The kittens will die if mom with food, they don’t come water and shelter into the shelter! where she is? Open admission All our foster homes shelters can’t turn are full right now. animals away no Can we help you matter how full they hang onto them for are! a few days? Can you care for This is our only mom until the kittens are weaned chance to sterilize and then bring her the mom! in? 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 40 Basic principles Kittens are better off Un-social Shelters are the with their mother Social cats and community cats may place to triage sick and mothers are be better off with a and injured kittens, kittens are better off better off with their little help staying facilitate adoption of in homes than in kittens until the cages – even really safe outside than friendly weaned kittens are old stressed inside a kittens, and provide nice cages! enough for weaning home spay/neuter services 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 41 But what about the human emotion? • Understand the deep roots of the human desire to protect little ones • But remember that mother cats have been subject to the same evolutionary pull • Know that you won’t make all the people happy all the time • Might as well be criticized for doing the right thing! 8/6/20 Maddie's Fund / Million Cat Challenge 42 Maddie's Fund | Million Cat Challenge 14