Illinois Bill Supports Spay-Neuter, Cats and Dog Flu on WGN

Following the weekly Schwanee song, Listen HERE as Illinois State Representative Sara Feigenholtz talks about what’s been termed the “Pet Population bill” on Steve Dale’s Pet World, WGN Radio. It’s about House Bill 4671.

One concern comes from PeTA regarding trap-neuter-return (TNR) and how feral cats might be killing birds. I thought PeTA is supposed to be for the protection of animals? Apparently, not. PeTA feels TNR is bad for cats.

I explain about TNR, and that it does work, at least works better than any of the other methods attempted over the generations to eradicate cats.  

TNR is the trapping of community cats. The cats are spay/neutered, and then vaccinated for rabies (important for public health).

Regarding killing birds. Yes, cats will kill birds they can catch (important to note, cats do not fly). But FAR more prominent issues that impact birds are habitat destruction and light and air pollution, even climate change.

I talk about the cats getting the dog flu – and while it happened at one shelter, Humane Society of Calumet Area –  it’s not likely to be a concern for cat owners. I describe more in this blog post about cats getting dog flu.