Stray cats are a tragedy not inevitability
The life of stray cats is a daily drama. They are there on our doorstep ever more numerous than before, suffering all evils and undergoing the worst of them: mass slaughter, violence of all kinds, as well as hunger, cold, thirst and diseases. For them, One Voice is launching a new campaign calling for a national emergency plan! Sign our petition.
Millions of cats without a family
How many are there really? Populating our streets and our countryside, thin, hungry, sick … The latest figures, dating from 2016, report 11 million stray cats, almost as many as cats in families according to the number that was estimated that same year to be 13.48 million. The refuges are overflowing and the impound facilities slaughter relentlessly. Because we cannot call these mass exterminations implemented in some communes “euthanasia”! Euthanasia, by definition, is an act to relieve the suffering of a being without hope of healing, and certainly not a killing of a healthy animal for the convenience of humans.
One solution, the sterilization of cats
Mass slaughtering of stray cats does not make sense. Throughout the world, many studies have shown that they do not solve the problem of strays. On the other hand, when a colony of cats disappears, the free space is quickly reinvested by new homeless felines … The specialists having studied the question all agree on only one effective strategy: to sterilize and release the cats, simple castration proving more effective. The latest One Voice report explains this.
1 unsterilized cat it’s more than 10,000 kittens in 7 years
Today, the problem of the cat people seems a bottomless pit. Sterilization efforts of just here or there are clearly not enough. Without non-stop, new cats and kittens are abandoned. And remember that only one unsterilized female and her offspring is enough for more than 10,000 kittens to be born in just 7 years! Faced with this situation, we understand that the tragedy of stray cats requires a global response … And this is what One Voice is claiming in this national emergency plan.
Cats in the rubbish bin?
Today, the regulations entrust the mayors with the responsibility for the management of free cats on their communal territory. It clearly states that euthanasia is not an appropriate solution and that sterilization / release is preferred … It is far from being what is put into practice. And when one knows how town halls “waste” budgets work to deal with stray cats one understands how they are looked upon… Yet the problem of stray cats is vast, both ethically, environmentally and health wise. There are so many reasons to therefore solve this problem before it surpasses us, like the case in Australia where a shocking campaign of eradication by poisoning is underway.
Give mayors the means to act and empower individuals
The solution to stray cats is in the hands of mayors but also individuals. One Voice will therefore act at a state level to ensure that not only will the mayors respect their legal obligations to protect homeless cats but also for the creation in each municipality of a place to live for stray cats. With its program Chatipi, it proposes to support them in the setting up of these structures. The cats will remain free after sterilization, but will have a shelter, will be fed, watered and will receive health monitoring. And as there wouldn’t be any stray cats without them being born in the first place, or being given away as gifts, or being sold in an unregulated manner. We will continue our campaign to demand the compulsory sterilization of cats, the application and obligation of identification, and to prohibit sales in the classified ads sections or pet shops.
To help homeless cats please sign the petition!