Notice Boks blames the failure of Spay/Neuter, not on the quality and reach of the programs themseleves, but on the lack of a City-wide TNR program, despite the fact there never was a City-wide TNR program.
From the Report:
The cat intake rates from 2002 through 2008 suggest that the neutering assistance programs funded by the City have not been as effective as they could be. To maximize the benefits of the mandatory spay/neuter ordinance and offset the increased intakes caused by the current economic climate it will be critical to maximize the effectiveness of the Department's spay/neuter programs going forward. 2008 saw nearly a 22% increase in the number of cats taken in. The last time the Department took in this many cats was before 2001. One impediment to reducing cat intakes has been the Department’s inability to implement any kind of official Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program to deal with feral and stray cats pending state environmental requirements being met and, in 2008, litigation filed by bird protection groups to petition the Department to stop supporting such efforts.
Table 9: Annual Cat Intake Rates
Cat Intakes
Table 9: Annual Cat Intake Rates
Cat Intakes
2001 22,094
2002 20,908
2003 23,117
2004 20,645
2005 21,651
2006 21,273
2007 19,172
2008 23,378
This is from the department's 2008 statistical report, pages 6-8.
2008 sucked for cats because in 2007 Boks refused unsterilized kittens and feral cats. He told them to go multiply and be fruitful in the streets of LA. It's not because of not having an official TNR program. The City has never had an official TNR program ever. We are doing more TNR today than ever before, and cat intake and euthanasia went up. It was HIS refusal program. It would be like the jails refusing to take in the most violent criminals, then they wonder why violent crime is up.
ReplyDeleteI have asked multiple times about the city's TNR policy. Well, their lack of one. And Boks (before he was fired) and Linda Barth always say the City is nearing a resolution or settlement with the bird groups. Why can't a City Council member ASK these questions and get a REAL answer? First we were told it was up to the Bureau of Engineering, and we were waiting for this grand report to come out to allow TNR. Then we're told that, oh well, the BOE is just too busy to get the report done. THEN, the head of BOE says Ed likes to blame everyone but himself for his problems. That bode the least well of all. Here we still are, no TNR program in place, and LAAS officers able to write citations to people feeding feral cats. It's asinine and needs to go before full city council for discussion and resolution.
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