WASHINGTON 鈥� How many cats live in the District? A three-year, $1.5 million study is set to find out.
The DC Cat Count is a collaboration among animal welfare groups and wildlife scientists that seeks to count the number of cats in D.C., including feral cats, house pets and cats in shelters.
Lauren Lipsey, vice president of community programs at the Humane Rescue Alliance, told 海角精品黑料 Thursday that the goal of the study is to 鈥渞eally get at an issue that can be controversial, but in which we鈥檙e all invested: What is the state of cats in our community?鈥�
鈥淸A]lthough outdoor cats are the focus of current controversies, the cat population in any area is actually an interconnected and dynamic network [composed] of unowned cats living outdoors, owned cats who may live either indoors or outdoors, and shelter cats who often move into or out of the other population segments. Therefore, the project is composed of several distinct, but complementary, components designed to characterize all of these population segments and how they interact with one another,鈥� project organizers said on .
Lipsey gave examples of some of the questions the count is designed to answer: 鈥淐ats who are owned — are they going in and out? Are they ending up in our shelter? Shelter cats who are being adopted 鈥� is that where most people are getting their cats? Are they getting them off the street? And ultimately, how many cats are living outside?鈥�
The alliance鈥檚 policy toward non-social, un-adoptable cats has been 鈥渢rap-neuter-return,鈥� Lipsey said, 鈥渂ut are we getting to most of them?鈥�
The only data they have is shelter data about cats going in and going out. 鈥淭hat doesn鈥檛 tell us anything about everything else that鈥檚 going on, outside of any engagement with the services we provide. That鈥檚 an unknown, and I think it鈥檚 an unknown in a lot of communities.鈥�
Wildlife scientists have methods for counting animals in nature, the organizers added, but they need to be adapted for cats in an urban setting.
The organizers added, 鈥渄ebates about outdoor cat policy are rarely productive and are often confrontational. This is in part because there are no broadly-accepted or objective criteria for estimating cat population size or evaluating the impacts of population management efforts.鈥�
Lipsey said,聽鈥淲e all agree that we don鈥檛 want these cats to be reproducing outside, and we do want to control the population, but are we really putting a dent in that?鈥�
The only data they have is shelter data about cats going in and going out. 鈥淭hat doesn鈥檛 tell us anything about everything else that鈥檚 going on, outside of any engagement with the services we provide. That鈥檚 an unknown, and I think it鈥檚 an unknown in a lot of communities.鈥�
Lipsey said that the outdoor cat population has an effect on surrounding wildlife, and that her group is always looking for聽鈥渢hings that we can all do to ensure that the cats are healthy and happy, but also that we鈥檙e taking care of and looking out for the wildlife in our community.鈥�
The Humane Society of America, one of the participating groups, said in a statement that the DC Cat Count will use cameras and in-person surveys to come up with an objective number of cats in the District, to aid in figuring out policies to reduce the number of unwanted cats roaming the area.
That will help to 鈥渂reak the impasse that has impeded efforts on all sides to reduce free-roaming cat populations,鈥� the society said.
鈥淯p until now, cat advocates and wildlife scientists haven鈥檛 had a 鈥榗ommon language鈥� as a basis for discussion. Developing informative, objective, and mutually-acceptable ways to measure progress will be a key to better collaboration among stakeholders in the future,鈥� said Dr. John Boone, a consultant to the Humane Society.
Lipsey concluded that the conduct of the count could provide a model for other communities as well.
海角精品黑料’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report.
