We are barely into the New Year and cats are already under fire. The Fish and Wildlife Service is trying to eradicate all feral cats in the Florida Keys refuges. They have created a Complex Integrated Predator Management Plan, which lays out possible options for controlling predators in the Florida Keys to protect species like the Key Largo Woodrat and the Marsh Rabbit. Feral and free-roaming cats are considered a "significant" threat to such protected species, along with raccoons, opossums, fire ants and large exotic reptiles, which the USFWS also says have an "overpopulation" in these areas.

The management plan consists of three approaches: no action, integrated predator management, and lethal control only. Trap-neuter-return and relocation plans are described in the plan but have already been "dismissed from further consideration." According to the plan, the "proposed action" is to implement option number two, the integrated predator management plan. This option consists of lethal and nonlethal strategies based on details of the targeted predator. As described by the plan, cats will be live trapped and taken to a nearby county animal shelter, where although it is not specifically mentioned, the cats will be killed. The plan also states that all feral cat colonies and feeding stations will be identified and removed, and citizens will be instructed to stop feeding the cats. (Any non-native opossum, armadillo, or rat caught incidentally in the live traps targeted for cats will also be killed.)

Background Information:

"Because the hardwoods have been cleared from most of Key Largo for development, the Key Largo wood rat was classified as endangered in 1984, as was a relative, the Key Largo cotton mouse. Despite the protection provided by 8,000 acres of preserved habitat, over the last decade the rats and mice have nearly disappeared," says the St. Petersburg Times. In addition, “water quality is affected by effluent from septic tanks, stormwater runoff, spills of hazardous materials, and discharges from shallow injection wells that can move through the porous limestone soil to open waters or canals,” says the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. And don’t forget the Key West Extension of the Flagler Railroad, the Overseas Highway, and the Florida Keys Aqueduct.

As for the cats’ history…according to the Grayvik Animal Care Center, about 350 stray and feral cats live in an exclusive island community, the Ocean Reef Club, a few miles south of Miami. These cats are the beneficiaries of a program called ORCAT, set up by Ocean Reef's homeowners in 1993, to care for the cats. Since starting this TNR program, the community cat population has been reduced from around 2000 cats to 350, with 100 of the cats residing at the community's animal care center.

"They thought the way to fix the rat problem was to bring in a bunch of cats," said David Ritz, community administrator for the homeowners' association. "Then in the 1960s we found out we had a cat problem. So they rounded them all up and killed them. Then in the 1970s, we discovered we had a rat problem. So they went around to all the pounds and rounded up a bunch of cats again."

Placing Blame on Cats:

Despite their acknowledgment that humans are to blame for the degradation of Florida’s natural habitats and the decline of local wildlife, the USFWS still insists that cats and other predators must be removed in order to protect what wildlife remains. And despite ORCAT's TNR program and huge reduction of the cat population in that area, the USFWS still says that no valid proof exists that TNR programs reduce numbers or do anything to reduce cat predation on wildlife. They go as far as to quote PETA as experts on feral cat management, instead of working with the Grayvik Animal Care Center, who is familiar with the situation and has been working towards a solution for almost 20 years.

Humans are CLEARLY to blame for species being endangered...leaving them a small tract of land to survive on is the reason for their decline, not cats. Humans are a far bigger threat to the Woodrat and Largo cotton mouse than cats are. Please take a moment to review the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Complex Integrated Predator Management Plan and let your opposition to their eradication plan be heard. All comments must be postmarked no later than February 3, 2011. If the Fish and Wildlife Services’ plan to catch and kill cats (and other predators) is approved, this decision could set precedent allowing other areas of the US to utilize catch and kill even if successful TNR programs are in place. Please help us help the cats by contacting the Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Service. Thank you!

Contact Information:

Anne Morkill
Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges
28950 Watson Blvd.,
Big Pine Key, FL 33043
Phone: (305) 872-2239
Fax: (305) 872-3675
E-mail: keydeer@fws.gov

Review their Management Plan here: http://www.fws.gov/nationalkeydeer/predatormgmt.htm