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Population Dynamics of Community Cats Living in a Tourist Area of Onomichi City, Japan, before and after the Trap-Test-Vaccinate-Alter-Return-Monitor Event
- Source :
- Journal of applied animal welfare science : JAAWS.
- Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- The community cat program (CCP) was recommended by the Ministry of the Environment to reduce cats in local animal shelters and improve stray cat welfare in Japan. It is a non-lethal control measure with stray cats cared for as free-roaming cats for their lifetime in the community, while Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) or Trap-Test-Vaccinate-Alter-Return-Monitor (TTVARM) activities are carried out. In the CCP, community cat colonies are hypothesized to be closed and static populations. However, it remains unknown whether the cats stay in the colonies, without migration of non-neutered cats following TNR/TTVARM events. We examined the population dynamics of cats before and after a TTVARM event using route censuses (107 days), fixed-point observations, and GPS-tracking in a tourist area in Onomichi. Eleven out of the 30 cats remained in the CCP areas, whereas 13 non-neutered cats immigrated into the CCP areas, within a year, suggesting the CCP program has limited efficacy. Besides, the program cannot support the lifetime management of the cats due rapid turnover of cats. Our results reject the CCP hypothesis, so that the program neither restricts cat breeding nor enhances cat welfare.
- Subjects :
- education.field_of_study
General Veterinary
040301 veterinary sciences
media_common.quotation_subject
05 social sciences
Population
04 agricultural and veterinary sciences
Test (assessment)
0403 veterinary science
Trap (computing)
Geography
Control measure
parasitic diseases
0501 psychology and cognitive sciences
Animal Science and Zoology
Christian ministry
050102 behavioral science & comparative psychology
Socioeconomics
education
Welfare
Tourism
media_common
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 15327604
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of applied animal welfare science : JAAWS
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....08ca71c45a41aea34a1b070293e043b2