Whos Ultimately Responsible for Free-Roaming Cats?
Editor’s note: Margaret R. Slater’s Community Approaches to Feral Cats: Problems, Alternatives & Recommendations has just been published by the Humane Society Press. The book looks at cooperative measures between animal care and control professionals and local residents to manage feral cat populations. Slater is an associate professor of epidemiology in the departments of Veterinary Anatomy and Public Health and Small Medicine and Surgery in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M University. By Margaret R. Slater You can find them just about anywhere: They may peek out from under a dumpster at your local gas station or food store. They may slink furtively around the perimeter of your home in the country. They may even take up residence under your back porch. They’re free-roaming cats, and they inspire a lot different feelings—anger, fear, sadness, maybe even guilt. But they should also inspire something else: action. The reason for action is clear, even if the responsibilities
