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Public Petitions Committee 07 December 2017

07 Dec 2017 · S5 · Public Petitions Committee

Item of business

New Petitions

Cat Population (Management) (PE1674)

Ellie Stirling Watch on SPTV

Thank you for the question. The approach that you have outlined—which could be summed up as the voluntary approach—is what I have relied on until recently. I and all my colleagues in front-line cat rescue have leant towards such an approach, which involves good advice and good veterinary intervention being taken on board by everyone who feels that they are a responsible cat owner. The trouble is that that voluntary approach seems to have gone as far as it can go. 10:30 The People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals and eight other pet organisations are members of the UK-wide cat population control group, which produces a report each year that is a snapshot of cat ownership. Until the past two or three years, the group has been reporting a nudging up in the rate at which cat owners are getting their cats neutered, but that has now stalled. In 2016, we reached a 93 per cent neutered rate UK wide; it is back down to 90 per cent this year. The results are from a YouGov opinion poll, and those of you who are scientifically minded know that opinion polls measure public opinion; they do not go out and count cats. There is a huge difference. The people who sit at home, put their name on a panel and say that they are happy to be consulted by YouGov and answer its questions are connected up to the world. The people I meet are not connected up in that way, so the number of unneutered cats is probably hugely underestimated. It is worrying that the voluntary approach has gone as far as it can go. The front-line cat rescue workers I meet confirm that. The people who do not have their cats neutered are perhaps socially marginalised and live without social resources such as email, or networks in which friends and family would encourage them to have their cats neutered. They may have lots of other social problems. I do not want to blame those people, but if we do not bring them on board, vets tell us that we risk a huge explosion—that is not my word—of the cat population, which brings with it the potential for an increase in unvaccinated cats. Most cats are unvaccinated, even the neutered ones, and feline diseases run rife when there is overpopulation. We are putting the neutered pet cats at risk—yours and mine at home are at risk because of the actions of the few people who do not yet neuter. I thought hard about this and I thought about the people who smoked in public places until we reached the point where we said that it affects the health of us all, because we all breathe the smoke. A similar argument applies to people who are not neutering their cats. It is not just their cats that are suffering—and they are suffering; if you want to ask me later about any of the conditions, I will happily tell you—it increases the risks for the other 90 per cent of cats as a result of disease transmission. There are still territorial fights, and cats that are wandering.

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Public Petitions Committee 07 December 2017

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