Community Cats and The Law Presented by Laura Nirenberg

Leading the Way Toward No More Homeless Pets®

Laura M. Nirenberg

Legislative Attorney, Best Friends Animal Society

Founding Director/President, Center for Wildlife Ethics, Inc.

Vice-Chair, American Bar Association, Animal Law Committee

Lauran@bestfriends.org

Cats • Most popular companion

animal • ~ 86 million pet cats • ~ ____?? million

outdoor cats • All environmental niches • Concerns:

• Public health • Depredation • Cat welfare

Ownership status - Owned - Unowned Lifestyle - Indoor only pets - Free-roaming pets - Unowned cats Socialization status - Friendly - Feral Continuum - State of flux

Cats and the Law • Dead, alive or hybrid cross

all classified as “cat” (9 CFR

1.1)

• All cats are members of domestic species felis catus (50 CFR

14.4)

No federal laws re: TNR Endangered Species Act Migratory Bird Treaty Act

• Could “take” by cats be actionable?

• No TNR cases

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Wild v. Domestic “A wild animal is an animal

that belongs to a category of animals that have not been generally domesticated and that are likely, unless restrained, to cause personal injury” (Restatement (Third) of Torts

22(b))

Caregivers lack level of control as is typical with other wild animal ownership

State laws that address “feral” cats

Nebraska New York Rhode Island Texas Utah Vermont Virginia

California Connecticut Delaware Illinois Indiana Kentucky Maine

State laws may authorize local governments to enact ordinances

Ordinances may address: • Ownership status

• Level of responsibility for cats

• Caregivers liability for cats’ actions

• Criminal liability • Abandonment, neglect,

registration, etc.

Connecticut – Municipal control of feral cats

• “Keeper” – person/organization, harboring, regularly feeding or possessing any feral cat.

• “Keepers” to register with animal control officers

• Refusal to allow impoundment is evidence of “keeping”

• Cats must be TNVR’d 22-339d http://www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/flags/connecticut/

connecticutflag.GIF

510 ILCS 5/ - Animal Control Act (ACA)

Sec. 2.16. “Owner” - person having a right of property in an animal, or who keeps or harbors an animal, or … “Owner” does not include a feral cat caretaker participating in a trap, spay-neuter, return or release program.

Sec. 3. Registration. … The Board is authorized by ordinance to require the registration and may require microchipping of dogs and cats…This Section does not apply to feral cats.

510 ILCS 5/ - Animal Control Act

510 ILCS 5/ - Animal Control Act Sec. 35. Liability • Exempts political

subdivision that allow TNR from civil and criminal liability

• Exempts vets who sterilize feral cats and caregivers who trap cats for TNR

• Except for “willful and wanton misconduct”

65 ILCS 5/11-20-8: Pest extermination; liens. “Pests” - undesirable arthropods, wood-infesting organisms, rats, mice, and other obnoxious undesirable animals, but does not include a feral cat, a “companion animal” as defined in the Humane Care for Animals Act … (510 ILCS 70/ 201.a)

Utah Animal Welfare Act §11-46-302

• “Community Cat” - feral or free-roaming cat without owner identification that has been sterilized, vaccinated and ear-tipped.

• "Community cat caretaker“ person other than an owner who provides food, water, or shelter …

http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/time-zone/usa/ Utah/images/state-flag-utah.jpg

Utah Animal Welfare Act §11-46-302

• TNR is not defined • "Community Cat

Program" - a program where cats are sterilized, vaccinated against rabies, ear-tipped, and returned to the location where they congregate.

§11-46-303 - Community Cats

“Sponsor” - person or organization that TNRs cats (§11-46-302)

Sponsors/caretakers are not “owners” and do not have “custody”

Shall maintain records for 3 years

§11-46-303 - Community Cats

Exempt from: • Licensing • Feeding

bans

Utah – Animal Welfare Act; Stray Animals

§ 11-46-103. Each municipal or county animal control officer shall hold any… stray animal…for a minimum of five business days … Method of disposition may be: • placement in a community cat

program • *Community cats are eligible for

release prior to the 5-day hold period (As per §11-46-303)

§11-46-304 - Permit Process

“A county or municipality may create a permitting process for community cat colonies.” • Permissive NOT mandatory • Duplicates record keeping • Administratively burdensome

• Adjacent property notification via mail, OR

• Posting notice on property (Lacks clarity)

Bill Phinney Site Planning & Landscape Design

Hunting cats

• Wildlife agencies lack statutory authority

• Morally offensive • Ignores property owner

rights & due process concerns

• Negates animal cruelty protections

Hunting Cats – Cont’d

• States rely primarily on ambiguity in the law

• States were cats can be hunted (allegedly)? – Minnesota – South Dakota – Wyoming

Minnesota

• MDNR’s position: “Feral cats can be freely hunted; hunter is responsible for determining if the cat is owned or wild” (Jason Abraham, MDNR, Furbearer Specialist)

– “an unowned cat is undomesticated”

• “Pet” an animal for which there is a licensed rabies vaccine and is typically maintained in the owner’s home

http://www.infoplease.com/atlas/state/minnesota.html

Minnesota – Cont’d • MN Animal Cruelty statute - definitions:

– "Pet or companion animal" includes any animal owned, possessed by, cared for…or any stray pet or stray companion animal.

• §343.21(1) Torture. No person shall overdrive, overload, torture, cruelly beat, neglect, or unjustifiably injure, maim, mutilate, or kill any animal,…whether it belongs to that person or to another person.

South Dakota • “There’s no hunting season, but an

“unwritten rule where people can kill them.” (Nick Cochran, Game Warden)

• (5) "Domestic animal" any animal that through long association with man, has been bred to a degree…that makes it unique/different from wild individuals of its kind

• 40-1-21…No person may intentionally kill or injure any animal…the property of another…

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.50states.com/flag/image/nunst068.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.50states.com/flag/sdflag.

Wyoming "Predatory animal" - Coyote,

jackrabbit, porcupine, raccoon, red fox, skunk or stray cat;…may be taken without a license in any manner and at any time except…

The owner has no property right in an unlicensed dog or cat …(also, no right of action)

Destruction of predatory animals exempt from animal cruelty statute (

6-

3-203(m)(iv))

http://www.stickergiant.com/wyoming-flag-shield_pm6951.html

Effective Public Policy

• Need creative, integrated and tailored programs

• Consider human dimension

• Lethal control is publicly unpalatable

• Must offer humane alternatives

Questions? Please contact Laura Nirenberg

lauran@bestfriends.org 219-379-4401

For the second consecutive year, Best Friends Animal Society® received the highest ranking in brand equity among Animal Welfare Non-Profits in the 2012 Harris Poll EquiTrend® study*. Best Friends is also proud to be top-rated by Charity Watch.

*Best Friends Animal Society received the highest numerical Equity Score among Animal Welfare Non-Profit brands in the 2012 Harris Poll EquiTrend® Study, which is based on opinions of 38,529 U.S. consumers ages 15 and over surveyed online between January 31 and February 20, 2012. Your opinion may differ. "Highest Ranked" was determined by a pure ranking of a sample of Animal Welfare Non-Profit brands.

Thank you for helping to bring about a time of

No More Homeless Pets®

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