ACTION ALERT

City of Los Angeles Under Pressure to Appeal TNR Court Ruling

The recent superior court ruling in favor of a coalition of conservation groups to halt the controversial practice of Trap, Neuter, and Release (TNR) of feral cats in the City of Los Angeles has spawned a pressure campaign by cat advocates for the city to forgo the environmental review of TNR, and to appeal the court ruling.

Bird conservationists, particularly those living in LA, need to weigh in too. TNR - whereby feral cats are caught, neutered, and then rereleased into neighborhoods and parks - causes bird deaths and is inefective at dealing with the feral cat problem. It should not be sanctioned by the city.

Please: Call the Mayor of Los Angeles - 213-978-0600 - tell him that you support an environmental review of TNR and to please have the City of LA immediately implement the decision made by Judge Thomas KcKnew suspending the city's illegal support of TNR.

LA residents also please: Call Your Los Angeles City Council members -http://www.lacity.org/YourGovernment/CityCouncil/index.htm - tell City Council members that you support an environmental review of TNR and to please have the City of LA quickly implement the decision made by Judge Thomas KcKnew suspending the city's illegal support of TNR.

For a list of talking points, click here.

If you do take action, please email Steve Holmer at or call 202 234-7181 to let us know. Thank you!

Background

The court determined that the City and its Department of Animal Services had been “secretly and unofficially” promoting the practice of releasing feral cats to roam free in the city after they have been trapped and neutered or spayed, even though they were obliged by law to first conduct a review of the program under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

In June 2005, the Los Angeles Board of Animal Services Commissioners adopted TNR as the “preferred method of dealing with feral cat populations.” Under the CEQA, an analysis of the impacts of the program on the environment should have been completed, but never was. Yet the Department went forward in supporting TNR operations, including discounting spay/neuter operations for TNR cats, helping establish new TNR colonies on city property, and helping promote TNR programs, while refusing to accept feral cats at city animal shelters or issue permits to trap feral cats that were not going to be subsequently released.

The City must now implement the CEQA process, which includes full scientific review, assessment of alternatives, and potential mitigation measures. The public will have the opportunity to engage in the process and ensure an open, science-based approach to the issue of free-roaming cats in Los Angeles.

The plaintiffs in the suit are Endangered Habitats League, Los Angeles Audubon Society, ABC, the Urban Wildlands Group, Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon Society, and Santa Monica Bay Audubon Society.

To view an ABC video on the problems associated with TNR, visit our YouTube channel