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DEDICATED TO PROMOTING THE HUMAN ANIMAL BONDJuly/August 2018

Volume III Issue 2

Main Story:Loving Outdoor Cats

New Service Dog Law

Phoenix Herpetological Society

K9 Trials Results

New Service Dog Law

Phoenix Herpetological Society

K9 Trials Results

20 The Phoenix Dog July/August 2018

Loving Outdoor Cats - Animal League of ArizonaBy Rocio Hernandez Photos: ADLA

MAIN STORY

‘It takes a village to raise a cat’ - a statement outdoor cat caregivers would agree with as they arrived at the Midwestern University Companion Animal Clinic in Glendale, to get their cats spayed and neutered.

The caregivers had spent the prior night putting out traps in hopes that food would be enough to lure their neighborhood cats. The next morning, instead of sleeping in they transported the cats, now secured inside the cages, to the clinic. One by one, they waited in line to check in the cats who meowed underneath their blanket-covered crates, unaware of what awaited them.

ADLA volunteers and vet staff worked through the warm May morning and afternoon as the temperature continued to climb. More than 140 cats were spayed and neutered that day! Knowing

that made it all worth it for Phoebe Taff, a longtime volunteer, now Lead Scheduler for the Animal Defense League of Arizona. “I love helping the cats and I love helping the people. It’s all about the cats,” she said.

The event is one of the largest special clinics that ADLA puts on

each year, said Stephanie Nichols-Young, the nonprofit’s president. The organization has helped get more than 100,000 cats spayed and neutered since 2009, she said.

They believe that the Trap-Neuter-Return system is the best way to reduce the outdoor cat populations because it’s a humane method that most people — whether they are cat lovers or not — can get behind. “One thing that we are seeing is so much more acceptance in the community,” Nichols-Young told PDM. “The acceptance is so high that one of our challenges is keeping up with demand, which is a great problem to have!”

While it’s unknown just how many outdoor cats there are in the metro Phoenix area, Nichols-Young said the decrease in the number of cats entering the shelter system is proof that their efforts have been successful. “Cats are one of the groups of animals at the greatest risk in the shelter system. The reality is, they have a lower chance of surviving in the shelter system than they do on the street, even though that may be counterintuitive to people,” Nichols-Young explained to PDM.

ADLA was founded in 1987, as a grassroots animal advocacy organization. Its mission is to protect and defend Arizona’s animals, and it does that through various campaigns and legislative work at the Arizona State Capitol.

The Spay Neuter Hotline is one of ADLA’s largest programs. It focuses on spaying and neutering companion animals and outdoor cats. That program’s largest component —Trap, Neuter, and Return (TNR) — makes statewide referrals to low cost or no cost spay/neuter services, according to ADLA’s website. It covers all of Maricopa County, but Nichols-Young said they also work in adjacent counties from time to time.

The effort is especially important in the Phoenix Valley since most shelters don’t take in outdoor cats because they are considered free-roaming creatures. The Hotline asks for a $25 donation per cat, which pays for just a fraction of the costs, but it doesn’t turn away anyone who meets the program’s guidelines.

Aside from controlling outdoor cat populations and health benefits associated with spay/neuter procedures, Nichols-Young shared with PDM that outdoor cats tend to behave better after they are fixed, which can provide relief to the residents of their neighborhoods.

Phoebe Taff began volunteering for ADLA after she went through the organization to get spay and neutering services for the outdoor cats she cared for. She now helps others by scheduling appointments for the cats at animal clinics, offers people tips for successful catches, and runs a trap depot where traps and other supplies they may need can be picked up.

“We bend over backwards just to help people out whether it’s financially, physically, whatever; we just want to help because we love cats,” Taff explained to PDM.

Neighbors helping neighbors

Checking cats in a MWU Companion Animal Clinic

Checking cats in at MWU

www.phoenixdog.net 21

Celia Garcia, Outreach Coordinator for ADLA, said volunteers are often willing to help caregivers who are elderly, who don’t have a car or don’t have a large enough car to transport all the cats they feed. Some volunteers offer to take care of cats for at least 24 hours after their surgeries.

“I like helping the residents that are elderly because they really enjoy seeing the cats in their backyards and feeding them. A lot of them say it’s very therapeutic for them. They enjoy seeing the cats in the morning playing in their yards,” she said.

By helping those cats get fixed, Garcia said, the residents can continue to enjoy and care for the cats, while also keeping them from multiplying. “There are so many residents who care about their cats and they are always concerned about their wellbeing and their health,” she said. “A lot of them say the cats are like their family.”

ADLA has partnered with the Arizona Humane Society on another cat-related effort: the Don’t KitNap Kittens campaign. When people find a litter of kittens outdoors, many are quick to assume that they are orphans, said Kelsea Patton, Vice President of Strategy, External

Affairs and Service Operation for AHS.

ADLA and AHS are asking people to fight the urge to immediately scoop up the kittens and, instead, wait to see if the mother cat returns since she offers them their best chance for survival. If she

doesn’t come back, they offer tips and resources on how people can help.

“This time of year, we rely heavily on the community’s help in caring for underage kittens. AHS is able to provide care-in-place resources for those Good Samaritans,” Patton said.

Although ADLA has been around for 31 years, Nichols-Young said they are still a small organization and only take on other issues occasionally. In its early days, ADLA spoke out against a company that quietly brought its animal testing facility to the Valley. It has also worked on ballot initiatives that changed cockfighting and hunting laws in Arizona.

Sometimes, ADLA works alongside other animal advocacy organizations on wildlife issues. They concentrate their efforts on protecting native wildlife such as black-tailed prairie dogs and mountain lions, considered keystone species which play an important role in the state’s ecosystem.

In 2017, ADLA joined the Arizona Humane Society, the Humane

Society of Southern Arizona, and the Humane Voters of Arizona, and founded the Humane Legislative Coalition of Arizona. Nichols-Young says that one thing the coalition tries to do is point out to lawmakers that animal protection is not a fringe issue; it’s one that community members from all demographics and political views care about.

“It’s funny to me that most legislators in Arizona don’t get that and it’s a bridge-building issue, it’s a common ground issue, it’s an ice breaker, and it’s funny that they don’t understand that,” Nichols-Young wondered aloud to PDM.

Last year, the coalition pushed for two bills that successfully passed through the state Legislature and became law. One law created a tax check-off program that allows Arizona residents to make voluntary contributions to fund affordable spay/neuter services throughout the state.

The second law allows people to rescue a child or pet from a hot car without risk of liability.

The coalition also watches bills that are introduced in the state Legislature to ensure that things don’t get worse for animals, and it supports bills that advance the protection of animals in the state.

People can support ADLA‘s work by getting involved as volunteers, making donations, or simply by calling their elected officials to let them know how much they care about animal issues.

More information can be found at www.adlaz.orgSpay/Neuter Hotline

Phoenix: 602.265.SPAY (7729), Tucson: 520.624.SPAY (7729), Statewide: 1.866.952.SPAY (7729)

Tempe Volunteers

Kittens in a trap

Tempe TNR Clinic