HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0283.286 2024-2026C7
From: punacarver
Sent: Monday, July 7, 2025 11:40 AM
To: Council Testimony
Subject: Bil 51 Testimony Opposition v
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I respectfully urge you to oppose Bill 51, which seeks to criminalize the feeding of feral or stray arch alsln"
County -owned property.
Feeding bans don't eliminate cats; they just make them harder to sterilize and humanely reduce populations
overtime since unfed cats roam more. Feeding is an essential component of managing cat colonies
effectively. Removing feeding as a tool disrupts this system and allows colonies to grow unchecked,
undermining efforts already in place. By criminalizing feeding, we destroy the very mechanism —trust built
through feeding —that makes TNR feasible. Unfed cats become trap -shy and unreachable. Published research
studies show that regularly fed free -roaming cats are less likely to hunt and kill wildlife. Simply banning
feeding does nothing to address the root causes —unsterilized cats due to animal abandonment —and will
deter volunteer trapping efforts thereby exacerbating the very issues the bans seek to solve.
What has been done to enforce the animal abandonment citations? This is where the county needs to focus
their efforts as it is the major pain point for otherwise managed, sterilized colonies. Removing the food does
not stop reproduction of dumped animals. With Bill 51, residents —especially the elderly, low-income,
disabled, and those doing volunteer work working as part of the solution —will be disproportionately affected.
Rather than fostering civic responsibility, such laws instill fear and resentment. If Bill 51 must be pushed
forward, at the very least, it MUST include language stating "Approved caretakers under County -recognized
programs will NOT be in violation of this law."
Cats who are fed on a regular schedule tend to stay in close proximity to their feeding stations. An outright
feeding ban simply scatters hungry cats, increasing predation as they forage more broadly for food. Research
from Chile found that "underfed" cats are nearly five times more likely to prey on wildlife than adequately fed
cats. Camera -trap studies confirm 75% of cat detections occur within 0.32 miles of human structures,
indicating most cats rely on feeding stations over hunting. Research also shows regularly fed cats are also less
likely to spread the parasite Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii). Researchers investigating infection rates among
domestic and wild felids. were approximately 79% lower than rates in free -roaming cats living in undeveloped
areas.
Feeding bans undermine humane management strategies, increase suffering, and fail to solve the root
problems. Rather than punishing well-meaning residents, I urge lawmakers to support programs that educate
the public on the importance of spay/neuter as well as responsible colony management, and allocate
resources to fund TNR and animal welfare groups which offer humane strategies, perhaps even establish
volunteer registries so caregivers can partner with animal control.
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Ref. Dade_ J1 U — 8 2025
Criminalizing kindness is simply bad public policy and not the spirit of aloha. I encourage you to reject cruel,
punitive, and ineffective ordinances by voting "NO" on Bill 51, and instead to embrace humane programs that
truly -work to stabilize the population and keep cats out of animal shelters, including Trap -Neuter -Return for
community cats and subsidize and low-cost spay and neuter for all cats.
Sincerely,
Scott Zuziak — resident of Kea'au, foster for Action 4 Animals a partner with Animal Control, and a volunteer
for PetFix Big Island
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