Workgroup appointed by Virginia General Assembly releases report on managing free-roaming cats

Fourteen members of a Virginia General Assembly workgroup appointed in 2021 to study problems associated with free-roaming cats have just released a comprehensive report detailing the impact of cats on wildlife and public health and recommending legislative solutions. Among the major findings in a report from fourteen of nineteen workgroup members is the determination that the controversial practice of Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) does not work to reduce free-roaming cat populations. The practice, in which cats are trapped, neutered, typically given a one-year rabies vaccination, and released back to the outdoors, is also ineffective at mitigating the risks posed by these cats to wildlife and public health. According to a 2013 article published in the Journal Nature Communications and referenced in the report, 1.3 to 4 billion birds and 6.3 to 22.3 billion mammals are killed annually by cats in the U.S.

The workgroup was created at the request of then-Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources, Delegate Ken Plum. It was tasked with making recommendations for reducing the population of free-roaming cats in Virginia and mitigating their impacts on wildlife, natural resources, public health, and property.

The nineteen-member workgroup comprised experts in wildlife conservation, veterinary medicine, public health and safety, agriculture, animal welfare, and animal law. The group deliberated for 18 months before fourteen members submitted their report to the General Assembly last week.

Among the findings in the meticulously-documented 28-page report are the following:

• There are an estimated 2.1 million free-roaming cats in Virginia, of which 1.2 million are unowned.
• These cats are one of the most serious threats to native wildlife in the Commonwealth.
• Free-roaming cats are vulnerable to many hazards and have high mortality rates, especially for kittens, and often have a very poor quality of life.
• Free-roaming cats present numerous risks to public health, including rabies, toxoplasmosis, and other diseases.
• A comprehensive and multi-faceted population control strategy is required to produce results.
• The unregulated feeding of outdoor cat colonies may exacerbate the negative impacts of free-roaming cats by concentrating on cats and attracting wildlife.

Numerous citations of peer-reviewed publications for each fact were presented to support this science-based report. The report details specific recommendations that are needed to effectively address the growing population of free-roaming cats in Virginia and mitigate the risks and damage they cause. Among these recommendations are the following:

• Each locality must develop an outdoor cat management plan through which state guidelines and regulations will be implemented to reduce the population of free-roaming cats and mitigate the negative impacts of these cats across Virginia.
• There must be a local option for the removal of free-roaming cats where conflicts exist
• Public education is critical to eliminating the abandonment and unintended reproduction of cats.
• Public education should emphasize the importance of keeping cats indoors or confined on the owner’s property to eliminate the impacts of free-roaming cats and protect them. The public also should be made aware of options for the placement of cats that need to be re-homed through shelters, pet adoption programs, and other alternatives to abandonment.
• A statewide policy concerning animal shelters and release agencies regarding the intake and acceptance of cats is needed. While 56 localities in Virginia currently have
ordinances regulating cats, many others have no regulation whatsoever.
• Where TNR is included in the comprehensive strategy for the reduction of the free-roaming cat population, individual and organizational practitioners must be required to receive training in the various aspects of TNR and cat colony management and should be required to create and maintain complete records of their activities, including individual health records for every cat in a managed colony. As needed, these records must be available to animal control, public health, or other taxpayer-funded agencies.
• There should be certain areas where the release of cats and the management of cat colonies should be prohibited, including parks and other protected areas, near schools or daycare centers, and on land where the permission of the private or public landowner or property manager has not been secured.

The workgroup also made several recommendations regarding research that should be conducted in Virginia to assess the root causes of cat abandonment, as well as the effectiveness of various strategies and techniques for reducing free-roaming cat populations.

Members of the workgroup expect to work with legislators to develop legislation on free-roaming cats to be introduced in the 2024 session of the General Assembly.