Volume 119, Issues 3–4, 1 May 2015, Pages 203–210
Nuisances and welfare of free-roaming cats in urban settings and their association with cat reproduction
Abstract
Free
roaming cats (FRC) are highly abundant in cities around the world.
Increasing populations of these cats might result in impairment of cat
welfare and cause nuisances and public health risks. In order to study
the seasonal dynamics of FRC populations and its association with events
of cat welfare impairment and nuisances, we analyzed a database of
FRC-associated citizens’ telephone complaint events, which were
registered in five cities in Israel (total human population of 1.42
million residents) during the years 2007–2011. These complaint events
were classified to the following six categories: cat's carcasses,
kittens, parturition, aggressive behavior toward people, invasion to
human facilities, and cat injuries and distress. Overall, 87,764
complaint events associated with these categories were registered in the
five cities during the study period (123.2 complaint events per 10,000
citizens per year). Length of daylight was moderately correlated with
the rate of complaints on kittens in the same month (r = 0.64) and parturition in the previous month (r = 0.54) (P < 0.001).
Both kitten and parturition-related complaints showed a prominent
seasonal pattern, peaking in April and May, respectively, and declining
gradually until November. ‘Kittens’ or ‘parturition’ were explicitly
mentioned in 38%, 39% and 19%, respectively, of the complaints regarding
cat aggressiveness toward people, cat invasion to human facilities and
cat injuries and distress. In most of the cities the rate of citizen
complaints regarding carcasses, aggression, invasion and injuries were
still significantly correlated with rate of complaints regarding kittens
after omission of these joint complaints and remained significant after
controlling for seasonality. These findings imply an association of cat
welfare impairment and nuisances with FRC reproduction intensity. The
current study revealed the high rate of nuisances and potential public
health hazards related to FRC, as well as the impairment of cat welfare,
which might be merely ‘the tip of the iceberg’ of the real welfare
situation of these cats. Further studies should examine the
effectiveness of FRC population control strategies for the reduction of
the rate of nuisances and public health risks related to FRC, as well as
for improving their welfare.
Keywords
- Free-roaming cats;
- Nuisance;
- Welfare;
- Public health;
- Population dynamics;
- Neutering;
- Trap-neuter-return
- Corresponding author. Tel.:
+972 9 7925982.
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
