The Newest Winners in Las Vegas – the Ferals!

Remove the cats and remove the food - no vacuum effect. TNR comes at the expense of native wildlife and public health. Domestic companion animals should not be living and dying on the streets.

http://www.tnrrealitycheck.com/

What amazing work? Raising kill rates in Las Vegas?

Shutting down the low-cost spay neuter and TNR clinic at Lied shelter?

Pushing for mandatory spay / neuter laws which never have nor ever will work?

Shifting the blame for their failure to save animals to the poor?

Developing the deceitful doctrines of adoptable and unadoptable animals?

I was told from someone who has been working in the shelter field for some time that Las Vegas has the highest per capita of feral cats. Say it is'nt so.

Something to be proud of?

kwhitlock, really tired of your cheesy slams on HSUS' name. Why are you hating on them so bad? This article isn't even about them! They have done some amazing work, especially in the past year or so.

You say that "all it takes is to get the ball rolling"... do you have ANY idea how much work went into that investigation? Probably not. And nobody else did it, except the HSUS.

I think that they have been very clear about their stance on no-kill and working to reduce the killing of dogs and cats. Do your homework... http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2007/11/not-killing-pet.html

BY the way... NEWSFLASH: they have NEVER been against pet ownership! Do you people believe everything you read on the internet?!? Sad.

Anyone can walk into any slaughter house anywhere in America and see apalling sights. All it takes is one person to get the ball rolling. Exposing meat packing industry problems is like shooting fish in a barrel.
Upton Sinclair 's book THE JUNGLE exposed abuses and problems in the meat packing industry over 80 years ago. HSUS was around back then. What did they do about it. That would be an interesting study. HSUS is now desparately trying to promote itself at any cost.

Who pioneered TNR? HSUS?

Who pioneered low cost spay / neuter for the economically disadvantaged? HSUS?

Who pioneered rescue group access to shelters? HSUS?

Who pioneered No Kill? HSUS?

Who pioneered off-site adoption venues? HSUS?

Who pioneered adopt-a-thons? HSUS?

Who opposes all of the above? The Hucksters Supportiing Unethical Sheltering.

Who is guilty of the most base game of "antics with semantics". You guessed it, HSUS.

HSUS, PETA, et al, have the creativity and marketing savvy of a soapdish.

d2or3: You tell people to do their own research before repeating someone else's rhetoric, but you've not managed to say anything but empty rhetoric yourself. You make silly personal remarks about Nathan's spelling or that "he practically uses a karaoke machine" huh? These are empty comments which you wouldn't have resorted to if you had something substantial to say. Let's see the report you talked about that says the shelter Nathan ran is now in "dire" straights. You didn't tell us where we could find this. And while you're at it show us a place where s/n legislation actually decreased the numbers of animals euthanized. Nathan also gives real statistics about shelters who have adopted his no kill equation which has significantly lowered the killing and increased adoptions at these shelters. He can supply real numbers, can you? Where did you read that Nathan said give out dogs and cats to anybody off the street? He had an extensive interview process at the Thompkins shelter for anyone who wanted to adopt an animal. And as for HSUS, they do save lots of lives but they're also filling up body bags in the back room and still not wanting to publicly condemn the rounding up and killing of feral cats. I believe it was someone from the HSUS at a conference not that long ago who made the astounding and memorable statement that euthanizing healthy and adoptable animals is not killing, it's giving them a good death. I ask, should millions of healthy dogs and cats be put in the hands of such an organization that romanticizes this senseless killing and goes to such extremes as calling euthanasia a gift to all the "unwanted" pets.

HSUS has the experience and notoriety along with the money to make the difference in millions of animals lives. For instance, the recent undercover report on the crippled cows at the Hallmark slaughterhouse. This kind of investigation could not be undertaken by a small organization and would not have been brought to the public's attention. I believe the HSUS is working on a much higher (and just as important) level as us in the trenches. Yes, I support the HSUS. I also support the AZ Humane Society, volunteer with AZCats, and have fostered and rescued hundreds of animals. Anyone who cares about animals recognizes the importance of all animal welfare organizations. If you chose not to monetarily support the HSUS, then please support local organizations, but do not bash a organization who is exposing so many animal abuses that most of us would be oblivious to.

TR,
If SOS, HCWS, LVVHS, et al, did not keep their TNR programs and free feral cat spay / neuter clinic the best kept secret in town, maybe you would not have had the colony in the first place

In fact , I have been giving out information to everyone I meet about the TNR clinic. Guess what SOS and their buddies response was?

They are telling everyone that they no longer do it.

But they ARE still operating the clinic.

The clinic is really for the collector / hoarders that grow feral cat colonies for their own amusement and really are not interested in solving the homeless pet problem. Just taking your money and strutting around like the great benefactor / advocates they wish they were.

That figures, Las Vegas School Distrist ingoring you till you put it on the news or the newspaper to put them on the spot. They do not give a damn about the cats or the kids...........They knew the cats would be put down andnot go to a no kill shelter.........they just want everthing to go smooth THEIR WAY. Thanks SOS. Even the casino's letft a colony alone for years between the Monte Carlo and Bellagio. Dealers took care and cleaned up after them and the BIG SHOTS there had someone move the colony before City Center started. 3 poker dealers took home 3 of them and tried to catch the rest TNR. If anyone has more on this please ring in !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the tips RC. I will try some of them. I own Havahart traps, the ones that use the freefalling rings to secure the door.

HSUS crusader ( is that you Karen?),
I can discern by the style and content of your writing that you certainly can judge intelligence.
Personal attacks usually are a sure sign that the attacker has acknowledged the superiority of his accuser's argument and is desparate.
Who taught you to do this ? Your mother? HSUS?

The information Nathan has meticulously provided in his new book: Redemption The Myth Of Pet Overpopulation And The No Kill Revolution In America will, If widely read by right-thinking people, put an end to the slaughter.

The HUCKSTERS SUPPORTING UNETHICAL SHELTERING are hypocritical, confused mouthpieces for greedy special interest groups. Not one of your "humane" organizations can provide concrete proof that mandatory spay / neuter laws ever have worked or ever will work. They have been dismal failures.

All their "proof" conveniently leaves out the fact that the real success was a direct result of concurrent programs that DO work. Such as, TNR, (which HSUS still talks out of both sides of it's mouth about.), Low cost spay/ neuter, which the American Vet Medical Assoc. continues to oppose,(of which HSUS is a puppet), access to shelter animals by outside rescue groups ( which HSUS claims is too stressful to animals so lets just kill them).etc,etc... The fact of the matter is that HSUS, PETA ,et al are running scared because NO KIll has exposed and is daily exposing them for the charlatans that they are.

If Nathan Winograd's new book: Redemption The Myth Of Pet Overpopulation And The No Kill Revolution In America is widely read and practiced by RIGHT-THINKING people, it will quickly bring an end to the senseless slaughter of our pets.

Nathan is keeping HSUS and PETA leaders up at night.

We will not stand by and let HSUS, et al, pontificate archaic, medievel, draconian answers to our pet's plight. The blame for the current sad state of animal affairs can be laid at their feet.

If you can produce just one honest study on the effectiveness of mandatory SN laws then produce it.

Our "humane society" here in Las Vegas is a joke. They can not take care of the homeless animals on their block ,let alone the homeless animals of the rest of Las Vegas. They are desparately grabbing for all the positive media they can get while pushing HSUS propaganda. IE: unadoptable big black dogs, animal attacks, villifying the general public, mandatory SN laws, etc,etc...

I have to stand up for the HSUS and other animal orgs. Each has its mission...animal welfare...and they have their own tactics.

I interned with the HSUS for 6 mos., and although I wish they had more staff per animal welfare issue, I was pleased with them. Wayne Pacelle is brilliant...far more intelligent that Nathan Windbag, who can't spell, has a juvenile presentation in person, and practically uses a karaoke machine.

I wish people would do their research before they joined the bandwagon of rhetoric spewed by the likes of Winograd.

I sure think there is a pet overpop problem, I sure think that the shelters are not the only ones to blame, I sure think there isn't a good home for every dog, and I can tell you that the Ithaca shelter Nathan made as no-kill is in dire straits. I have the news reports to prove it.

Yeah, a no-kill nation is what the end result should be, but it's not as simple as giving a dog or cat to every schmoe on the street. Until s/n legislation passes; byb's, pet stores, and puppy mills are stopped; irresponsible owners (which Nathan says are few...hello...8 million animals get dumped each year!!!) and each community's resources are dedicated to the animals, then supply will still outnumber demand.

You can sign up easily and go onto the Best Friends Cat World forum. There's lots of cat lovers with great advice.
http://network.bestfriends.org/MessageBoards/Forum.aspx?f=749

There are very hard working and normal (!) cat people doing TNR all across the country. I'm glad you haven't let any obstacle get in your way and all but one of the cats have gotten fixed. Like you mentioned, TNR is not a one time thing and doing "follow up" fixing of any new cat who comes into the area is neccessary to keep their numbers from increasing again. You didn't mention what ways you've done in catching the trap shy kitty. Here are some suggestions in case you haven't tried them yet: If it's not possible to put a trap with the door tied open at the food station, because someone might mess with or steal the trap, find or buy a long cardboard box that is about the size of the trap. Some assembled traps are sold in boxes so maybe someone kept theirs. Start feeding her in that by first putting very tasty food at the front then each day moving it back further. When she's got the hang of going in put a trap in the box. Cover the bottom of the trap with cardboard. You can probably get away with covering the trip plate with newspaper though. Maybe you could find a tnr person who has a drop trap you can borrow. For bait, I've had the most success with starkist tuna, smoked deli turkey from the deli not prepackaged and use the same day (some cats are not fish eaters) kentucky fried chicken or mackeral. Trap shy cats need lots of coaxing so be sure to put a tiny drop of food or juice at the very front, then more further in, then put the bait at the back. There should be a larger than normal amount of bait at the back for the cat to see. I cut a small paper plate in half and put the bait on it. Be careful the plate does not touch the trip plate. The amount of bait leading up to the plate has to be small, like the size of the tip of your finger. Some cats will get satisfied too easily if too much bait is put in. If the other cats are around when she's there you can prop up the trap door with a wood stick, cut a groove on the end that touches the door to help prevent it from slipping in case a cat bumps or climbs onto the trap. The string should be about ten to fifteen feet long. The string should not hit any leaves that can make noise or rocks that can get in the way. Be sure to practice at home, not at the colony, pulling the string. It takes a swift and quick pull when the cat is AT or PAST the trip plate. There shouldn't be any slack on the string. Put the food past the trip plate to get the cat to go to the very end of the trap. Some trap shy cats will go into the trap after they have seen others go in and see they weren't trapped. This is how I finally caught one. Also trap shy cats can be put off by traps that are covered. For cats that will go into a normally set trap but step over the trip plate, place the bait on the ground then place the trap over the bait with it sticking through the trap floor. The cat will have to work at it and usually loses track of where it's stepping. You might want to try spraying or sprinkling cat nip in the trap. You should use the stick/string method for this since the cat may start to roll around in the trap and trigger the door too soon then back out. Getting her to take the bait when she's sick will be hard since she probably can't smell very well. Clavamox is stronger than amoxi but it may also have a stronger bad taste. Maybe you could try putting clavamox in a pill pocket which are sold at most pet stores. You can also roll the pill pocket in tuna juice to help mask the pill taste when they crunch it in their mouths. This is the time when females are pregnant or have already had their first litter. I always remind trappers that if they trap a female be sure to get them to the vet the next morning to fix her and if she's nursing, the vet should be able to tell, put her back in about 15 hours when she is fully alert, making eye contact and moving back and forth in the trap without any wobbling. I've done this many times and moms will go back to their babies and can keep nursing after being spayed. If she's got upper respiratory you should get her an antiboitic shot at the vet. This will act quicker than oral medicine. In cases where the mom is seriously ill with URI you should not put her back. Half or totally shut eyes with clogged up nose (clogged up nose alone or just runny eyes does not neccessarily mean it's really sick) , high fever, not wanting to make eye contact or distant look in eyes, not eating or drinking are signs of a very sick cat. She should be kept and treated and you should search the area best you can for her kittens for atleast a couple days. Try to remember the direction where she came from and any brush or secluded area where you've seen her hang out. The kittens will sometimes cry out the hungrier they get. If you have a kitten now that cries you could put in it a carrier and back it up to a trap. Maybe this kitty's motherly instincts would kick in and she would go in the trap to get to the kitten. It's worth a try. I also want to give a reminder since the weather is getting warmer, to never EVER leave a cat in your car, even overnight and you plan on taking it to the vet first thing in the morning. Anything can happen and I have heard a couple horror stories from experienced cat people who forgot about the cat in the trunk of their car and the cat died a slow horrible death from baking in the hot trunk. Temps can get over 80 degrees early in the morning. If the sun hits the car it can quickly heat up. This is completely avoidable. Put the cat in the trap on plastic in a bathroom or garage until you take it in. You could put it on your front or back porch however I strongly urge you use a chain and lock on the trap door and back end if it can be opened and also chain the trap itself to something on the porch that can't be moved. The porch should have shade also. Sheds can also heat up quickly so you have to be careful. Also if the cat is healthy and still won't go into the trap you can withhold food, but always have fresh water available in a shaded area. A healthy cat can go without food for as long as five days and sometimes it takes that long for the really trap shy ones. For those days you would have to feed on plates for the other cats at the colony then take away any remaining food. Never skip meals at colonies where there are kittens. You'll just have to feed them the hard way for a little while. It might be hard to keep the one cat from eating their food but it won't be for very long. Sorry this is long. Hope it helps.

RC,
You are absolutely right! TNR is the most intelligent way to humanely reduce the feral population. For years I have given my number to many people involved in TNR. No one ever called.
I got into TNR when I had to peel two dead 10 week old kittens off the asphalt where I have a storage unit. The image still haunts me and fires me up! After inquiring about the cat problem at RMC ministorage 3965 West Desert Inn Rd. Las Vegas, the manager said they find dead kittens all the time ( summer temps are consistently over 110) and that for years there have been people feeding the 20 or so cats behind RMC at Do It Yourself Sprinklers on Pioneer St. Upon further investigation I found out that the caretakers were members of LVVHS, FLOCK and other"TNR" groups and had not TNR'd any of them. So I asked if I could. They reluctantly agreed so we began. We have rescued 40 kittens from the immediate area and have found homes for most of them. We also TNR'd over 3 dozen cats in the area. The hostility I have encountered from working with these local TNR groups is unbelievable! They have caused me and my wife all sorts of grief. One of them will expose herself to me in front of my wife. NUTS!! The ironic thing is that these rescues were done on the same block as the supersecret office of the Las Vegas Valley Humane Society headed by part- time professor and full-time vacationer and steakhouse critic Karen Layne. They knew all about these cats and yet refused to follow the TNR protocols. To make matters worse they have not helped us one bit to find homes for the now grown-up black and gray and tabby kittens ( but they found homes for the two Siamese kittens we fostered for them). Till this day the caretakers have not even called to check up on the status of the remaining rescues. They really don't care about them at all. Good news is that we have only found one kitten since we did the TNR in 2006. TNR works. But only if we are methodical and thorough.
I still have not TNR'd one female who is just too trap smart. She is old and has health problems. I had been putting amoxicillin in her food for two weeks and it seemed to help. I'll try again in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, the "caretakers" are still giving me guff.
But I can put up with it for the cats sake. If Nutcase bothers me again I'll just file a police report for public lewdness and have her jailed.

The way out of the feral cat population problem is to support, financially and voluntarily, the TNR movement. The shelters are not killing enough ferals/strays to make a real difference in reducing the populations. It will be the armies of citizens who fix the ferals they are feeding and also volunteers who help cat groups go out and fix the cats. Communities all over the country are in desparate need of volunteer trappers. It really doesn't take much effort and the incredible satisfaction of not only preventing hundreds if not thousands of kittens from being born, but also greatly improving the life of the cat you helped fix, will be overwhelming and probably addictive! I've fixed over 700 ferals/strays and I'm so glad I didn't just sit around wishing this tragedy would just solve itself. It has empowered me and even helped me accomplish other things in my life. We have a feeding ban in our city and I spread the word as much as I can when I talk about homeless cats that feeding the cats is never the problem. It is the right and humane thing to do. It's not fixing the cats that is the problem. Hang out with a feral cat group in your area and learn how to TNR the cats. Then you can get together with other feral lovers and go out trapping together at night. We have "fur trapping" nights where we meet at Starbucks, talk over our coffees about our game plan that night and then go do our trapping. It's actually a great way to spend a Friday night helping the cats and having a little fun also. The more TNR people out there fixing the cats, the sooner we can end this problem.

All the kittens I have rescued (40 + ) (and TNR'ed 80+ adults), in my neighborhood have been the offspring of irresponsible feral cat caretakers. And did they ever try to hinder my rescue efforts! Still do.

HCWS claims they fixed 240 cats at their August 2006 feral clinic. SOS claimed THEY fixed 240 cats at the August clinic. Were there two clinics in August 2006? If so, what were the dates?

HCWS has been telling MY referrals that they are no longer doing the feral cat clinics. Is that true? Good news!! Word is it that LIED will be opening up a low cost spay neuter clinic in a couple of months. YEAH!!!

My wife did a telephone survey of spay neuter pricing at all the vet hospitals in Clark county. Prices range from 40 to over 400 dollars. Email me and I can send you a copy and also the Wall Street Journal's analysis of the true amount of offspring a cat can produce in 7 years.

Could someone who is experienced in trapping ferals please help me catch a queen. I have had no luck catching her at all. She is getting old (about 11 years) and now seems to have a serious URI problem. The caretakers have been no help at all. I don't think she will make it through another summer in the industrial area of town. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

My email is : keithwhitlock@cox.net

KWhitlock, I agree. The so called "Humane" Society of the United States waffles like the "Leggo My Eggo" company, when it comes to the issue of no-kill.
When it makes them look good, they use semantics to make it appear as if they support no-kill. But in carefully worded articles, the HSUS clearlycontinue to support murder in shelters.

The HSUS, ASPCA ,PETA, etc are all giant pimples on the rear ends of the no-kill movement...they are part of the problem, not part of the solution.

And they wont be getting my donations.

PS I read "Redemption", and it is a fantastic book. It's a blueprint for ALL shelters to become no-kill....if they care enough to become no-kill.... that is.

They call themselves "Kindred Hospital"?

And they were going to kill Cats?

Doesnt make much sense, but then again, human politics never does.

Well, anyway, thanks to the wonderful cat lovers, the cats are saved!

Fantastic job!

30,000 Cats spayed/neutered? Incredible! Think of all of the homeless cats there would be if these good people werent doing such great work!

Where would our cats be without Karen Layne and Shirley Braverman? Great PR! Are you sure about those numbers? And thanks for pushing NLV ordinance 2418 through. I'm sure that a $1,000.00 fine for not spaying by 4 months of age will get everyone's attention. Not to mention the six months in jail. My contact's responses were on the side of outrage but i informed them that Harold Vosko, pontiff of Heaven Can Wait, knows best, and helped push this through along with members of FLOCK and LVVHS citing disease, traffic accidents, and other propaganda that HSUS (Hucksters Supporting Unethical Sheltering) uses to villify homeless animals and dominate ( or at least try to ) the local animal (rescue)? scene. And those poor big black dogs and ugly kittens too.
Amazing, they turn a blind eye to the death camp, villify Best Friends , boycott the rescue operation, and now they rally the troops for these eleven cats. Las Vegas needs all the help it can get to keep vermin under control. Four - legged and two - legged.
Karen, you left your doggie bag behind at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. We'll keep it in the fridge till you visit again.
Folks, ya gotta read Nathan Winograd's new book. REDEMPTION, THE MYTH OF PET OVERPOPULATION AND THE NO KILL REVOLUTION IN AMERICA. It will transform you and empower you to effect lifesaving changes in the way we do sheltering and rescue.

Thank you for this wonderful news. I'm working with a feral colony that lives around a school, and I've been anticipating ways to deal with any complaints that may eventually come my way. This is a great resource and example that might help me (and many other people) down the road.

Woo hoo--what a heartening report! For more about helping feral cats where you live, please visit the Humane Trap-Neuter-Return for Feral Cats forum, part of the Spay/Neuter Fever! online community.

Whiskerly yours,
Celeste Crimi
Network Member Support
Best Friends Animal Society

I'm glad the cats were saved, but it sure sounds like the "educators" in Las Vegas need a little education themselves!