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
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
[email protected] 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.
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No More Homeless Pets®
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