SATcats and Other Scat

The Summer 2007 issue of Alley Cat Allies' newsletter "Alley Cat Action" is out and the lead article is all about San Antonio's feral cats situation. The article, Making A Promise to Vulnerable Feral Cats, highlights the success of the recent pilot TNR program at the Japanese Tea Gardens. It also beams a spotlight on how horrible the conditions have been for saving animals sent to the pound here. Citing 2004 statistics, San Antonio has a "save" rate of just 13%, while San Diego, California has managed to save 66% of animals at their animal control facility and Denver, Colorado has a save rate of 76%. Historically, our city has killed 9 out of 10 animals taken to the pound. And as the article states the obvious, "feral cats didn't stand a chance." The kill numbers for 2005 and 2006 have shown a slight improvement over the 2004 numbers, but we have a long, long way to go to reach no-kill by 2012.