partnership to strengthen the identification and protection of our cats
For more than 30 years, the city of Quimper has funded the capture, identification and sterilization of stray cats. The SPA is now stepping up its commitment around the deal, which aims to increase the number of cats cared for to five, together with local animal welfare associations and vets.
As part of the France Relance plan, a two-year agreement was signed between the Society for the Protection of Animals (SPA), the city of Quimper, four stakeholders veterinary clinics and animal protection associations ABRQ, Animal dans. la Ville and Ti Chat 29 are already operating in the city.
This partnership allows for the care of 150 cats over two years, when a City subsidy allowed them to neuter about 30 cats each year again last year. The cost to the community is estimated at €4,800 over two years for the remaining identification costs at its expense, as the amount of subsidies normally allocated to this type of activity is €6,400 over two years.
Targeted intervention campaigns to protect
The persons responsible for the capture (SPA volunteers and local associations) define the intervention sectors according to the calendar with the help of the city and the residents. They identify the relevant cats, sort the colonies by street and district. Before any event, local residents and cat owners in the respective neighborhoods are informed. Teams can then move around using cages with lids containing flavored food. After capture, the cats are taken to one of the partner veterinarians for sterilization and identification.
The first phase of capture is initiated in accordance with current animal welfare regulations Until Tuesday, January 31, 2023, above Cornigel district, south of route 785 (transbigoudène). During this period, cat owners are invited to keep their animals at home as much as possible.
The vet checks that the cat has no owner or has already been sterilized during the previous campaign. At the end of the intervention, those who managed to trap the cats release them where they were trapped. Sociable cats and kittens can be adopted, thus helping to stabilize and then reduce the colony.
Benefits of sterilization
Stray cats are, in most cases, animals that have been domesticated and then abandoned, thus forcing them to become semi-feral again. Sterilization is the only effective way to control the spread of stray cat colonies. Sterilizing them and returning them to the environment prevents them from reproducing by preventing the development and reproduction of other individuals.
There are three main advantages to neutering stray cats:
- Improve public hygiene and public order. Sterilization helps fight the spread of disease, thus protecting pets as well as human health from diseases that can be passed between humans and animals. It also affects public peace by stopping noise and olfactory disturbances, night fights, meowing and urination. Finally, reducing the number of cats also limits nuisances such as torn litter bags and encroachment on private property.
- Improve the health status of the respective cats. Sterilization prevents the transmission of infectious diseases transmitted during collisions and breeding and limits other pathologies such as typhus or coryza. It reduces the risk of ovarian tumors in women.
- Be committed to animal welfare. Often unsociable, stray cats are rarely adoptable and often suffer from difficult living conditions.
What does the law say about stray cats?
Pursuant to Article L211-27 of the Rural and Marine Fisheries Code and the decision dated April 3, 2014:
- Therefore, a stray cat is an unknown, owner-less cat that lives in a group, in public places, in the municipal area.
- The mayor is responsible for peace and public health within his police powers.
- A permit from the municipality is required for the sterilization campaign of stray cats.
- A mayor who chooses not to carry out sterilization and identification campaigns for stray cats must justify his decision.
As part of the French Relance plan, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food supports animal protection associations of all sizes in implementing and supporting abandoned pets or end-of-life care. This support plan has 4 components (A, B, C, D). Section B offers “support for local projects carried out by animal protection associations”:
- funding of works and/or equipment for the benefit of associations that have or wish to establish shelters for cats, dogs or horses;
- funding of equipment for homeless associations;
- funding of cat sterilization campaigns in favor of the associations that carry out these campaigns, which can cover 100% of the sterilization costs.
