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Compassionate Conservation
A New Approach Emerges, Challenging Tradition to See Each Tree Within the Forrest.

By Maggie Funkhouser

W hether the topic is feral cats or

Bengal tigers, bald eagles or
pigeons, when it comes to managing
animal populations, the traditional
school of conservation thinking
tends to choose lethal practices as
its primary tool. However, with new
research and evidence showing that
nonhuman animals are more similar
to humans than not–studies proving
these species think, feel, and possess
sentience–traditional conservation is
being challenged by a new ethos called
“compassionate conservation,” where
nonlethal practices are the focus. Compassionate conservation is a new way of thinking about
biodiversity that considers individuals and populations as a whole.
Traditional conservation approaches
for managing nonhuman animal populations are based on the notion that these individuals have simple minds; like
machines, they only respond to stimuli, are not feeling creatures, and are “lesser” in some way. This school of thought is
also hunting centric, with a firm focus on the herd or population as a whole. The idea is that if the integrity of the whole
is thriving, the well-being of the individual is not necessary to consider.

Evolving views
With mounting evidence that nonhuman animals are capable of feeling a wide range of emotions, from joy and
happiness to sadness, sorrow, and even post-traumatic stress, some scientists are beginning to shift their views of these
species; and with that, they are shifting their management practices (“Animal Sentience,” 2018). This change in mindset
is questioning the status quo regarding ethics and moving towards conservation that again takes into account the value
of individual life with a focus on “do no harm.”
Continued on page 3...

1 • Alley Cat Rescue Vol. 18 • Issue 2 • Summer 2018 www.SaveACat.org

 From the Desk of Louise Holton

The African wildcat, Felis silvestris lybica. Photo: ©www.jameswarwick.co.uk

A few years ago Alley Cat Rescue

supported a group TNR’ing at
the Sun City resort, bordering the
of pure African wildcats today.
Safeguarding the genetic integrity of
the wildcat is a complex task.
will also include a conference of
stakeholders as well as an education
campaign about the importance of
Pilanesberg Game Reserve near spay/neuter.
Johannesburg, where there are “Outside the park, one option is to
African wildcats living. It would be try capture, neuter and return feral Many of you donated towards our
a terrible tragedy to allow the small cats,” SANParks invasion ecologist previous AWC project and we hope
wildcats of the world, especially this Llewellyn Foxcroft told Wild we can count on you again. By
one from whom our domestic cats magazine in 2012. “The reasoning working together, I’m confident we
descend, to simply die out. We are here is that if a cat is removed, another can protect this iconic species while
again working with scientists, the will fill its home range and thus the also providing crucial TNR services to
veterinary community, and TNR problem is not solved. However, by feral cats in South Africa.
groups in South Africa around Kruger returning cats which cannot breed,
National Park. the home range is maintained and
other cats are naturally excluded
ACR is taking action to save this from the territory. This approach is,
magnificent and unique small cat… however, costly and also needs to be
and we need your help! ongoing.”

Wildcats look remarkably like our ACR is asking you, our kind and
tabbies of today. In fact the very first compassionate members, to support
time I saw one, many years ago in this bold new project to protect
Kruger Park, I thought she must be a the African wildcat by TNR’ing
domestic cat who had escaped from domestic cats who live along the
a ranger’s home. Only later, when I border of Kruger Park. Our project
read that staff are not allowed to have will be lead by Rita Brock, the former
domestic pets in the park, did I realize General Manager of the Knysna Louise Holton, President & Founder
that the cat was an actual wildcat! Animal Welfare Society and founding
member of CAT (Cat Action Team). For the cats,
When wild and domestic cats She is a TNR expert and has a long
interbreed it leads to hybridization– history of leading successful TNR
one of the main threats to the survival projects in South Africa. The project

2 • Alley Cat Rescue www.SaveACat.org

...continued from p. 1.
“As a conservation community we have normalized the perpetration
of significant, intentional, and often unnecessary harm against wildlife
individuals. This constitutes a tragic failure to exercise our considerable
capacities for compassion,” states Arian Wallach, an ecologist at the
University of Technology Sydney in Australia, and her colleagues in a recent
Conservation Biology essay. With increasing evidence surrounding the
“widespread sentience and sapience of many nonhuman animals,” they state,
“practices that categorically prioritize collectives without due consideration
for the wellbeing of individuals are ethically untenable” (Wallach, Arian et. al., Some believe all cats should be
2018). confined and outdoor access limited to

T raditional conservationists are having a hard time accepting this new approach of compassion and empathy in
managing animal populations. They are holding onto the belief that in order to protect biodiversity, compassion has
its limits and killing is necessary. Director of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, Peter Marra, and bird advocate
Chris Santella strongly support this idea. In their latest book, Cat Wars: The Devastating Consequences of a Cuddly
Killer, Marra and Santella write, “From a conservation ecology perspective, the most desirable solution seems clear—
remove all free-ranging cats from the landscape by any means necessary” (Marra and Santella, 2016).

This new debate among scientists has placed conservation management

practices on a spectrum with lethal methods at one end, occasional killing
“...practices in the middle, and abstaining from lethal force at the other end of the scale.
that categorically Dr. Mark Beckoff, Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
at the University of Colorado, Boulder and a pronounced leader of the
prioritize collectives compassionate conservation movement, responds to Marra and Santella’s
Cat Wars, stating, “The phrase ‘by any means necessary’ is among the most
without due reprehensible statements I’ve ever seen, and of course, in addition to it being
morally repugnant, it is not based
consideration for on science and it won’t work. And,
the wellbeing of think about the horrific lesson it
offers to youngsters. The authors
individuals are totally ignore the cognitive and
emotional lives of cats, and view
ethically untenable.” them as mere disposable objects”
(Bekoff, 2016).

Does killing work?

Scientists in favor of the compassionate conservation approach point out
that killing often allows root problems o be ignored. It’s easier to kill than to
formulate solutions to the underlying causes; lethal practices simply provide
a band-aid fix. Whereas the new school of thought looks towards ecology,
natural processes, and the interconnectedness of all living things to find
the answers that will most likely be more effective in providing long-term
solutions over repeated killing. These scientists propose allowing nature
to “take its course,” to allow natural processes within an ecosystem to self
manage.

For example, instead of killing apex species to manage a habitat,

compassionate conservation would allow these species to naturally regulate
...continuted on p. 4

3 • Alley Cat Rescue www.SaveACat.org

Continuted from p. 3.
the ecosystems in which they reside–scientists would observe more and interact less. Alley Cat Rescue strongly agrees
with this school of thought and therefore advocates Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) as the preferred method of managing
feral cat populations because TNR programs–following sterilization–allow natural attrition to reduce local cat colonies.

Embracing humane methods

Killing has a dramatic effect on the environment, often with counterproductive results, TNR provides a practical
solution with a more subtle approach to interacting with the environment. TNR stops the breeding cycle without wholly
removing animals from the ecosystem, which prevents the creation of open niches and keeps nature in balance. TNR
also recognizes the individual by providing care to every cat who is trapped. In fact, surveys show that most individuals
would rather see a cat sterilized and returned to his or her outdoor home over having the cat trapped and killed.

More communities and agencies are embracing this humane, nonlethal method of managing community cats, not
only because it preserves the sanctity of innocent life–do no harm–but also because it provides an effective, long-
term solution. Unlike catch-and-kill, which only provides a temporary fix and often requires repeteated attempts,
TNR programs stabilize populations, improve the overall health of outdoor cats, and reduce both shelter intake and
euthanasia rates. Additionally, such programs drive community involvement and encourage compassionate actions.

Scientists opposed to this school of thought believe this is a naïve approach in that it’s biased towards non-native (i.e.
invasive) species, which when left unmanaged can be detrimental to ecosystems. Feral cats are often placed into the
category of non-native, invasive species and labelled a “nuisance,” but ACR believes that this categorizing of species
is often arbitrary, especially in today’s world as travel and trade continue to increase. Traditional conservationists still
claim that if not removed from the environment, feral cats will in some way “take over,” despite numerous studies that
show habitats fair better when cats are TNR’d rather than removed. What’s naïve really is to deny the inevitability of
ecological globalization.

Trap-Neuter-Return can be used to manage community cat populations without resorting to killing.

A question of values
Compassionate conservation is also challenging the outdated ethos that some species are more worthy of protecting
than others. There is a push to move away from protecting just the cute, unique, and not-so scary ones. Traditionalists
fear that due to limited resources it will be impossible to protect all species. They believe conservation needs to pick and
choose which species to save. The majority of scientists continue to maintain this train of thought despite cases where
non-native species are actually providing critical support for endangered, native species. Stripping away this arbitrary
Continuted on p. 5.

4 • Alley Cat Rescue www.SaveACat.org

 ME-W
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If you are interested in receiving further information on creating a charitable gift annuity with Alley Cat Rescue, please
contact Elizabeth Thomas, Director of Development, at 301-277-5595 or at [email protected].

Continuted from p. 4.
worth/value system would ultimately lead to less discriminatory killing.

Just recently a US District Court ruled that federal Wildlife Services, a division of the Agriculture Department that
removes and kills millions of animals each year, overstepped its use of authority in order to kill native predators in
Idaho. The court ruled that the agency did not provide “an objective analysis of the environmental impacts” and stated
that federal officials dismissed legitimate concerns raised by sister agencies (Fears, 2018). This case sets a new precedent,
not only calling for more adequate environmental impact studies to be conducted prior to implementing animal
management practices, but also showing that blanket killing of animals as part of traditional conservation is now being
closely monitored and challenged.

Compassion does not exist in a vacuum and not all suffering is avoidable. However, unnecessary and human-caused
harm should and can be avoided. There is now some agreement that lethal methods are too often implemented when
not necessary and that lethal precedent often overrides genuine species protection. Hopefully this commonality will
propel the conversation field towards more ethical, nonlethal practices. In the meantime, Alley Cat Rescue will continue
to advocate for the humane, nonlethal management of feral cats through TNR, while also supporting compassionate
conservation for all species.

•
References:
• “Animal Sentience: An Interdisciplinary Journal on Animal Feeling.” Animal Studies Repository, The Humane Society of the United States,
www.animalstudiesrepository.org/animsent/. Web. 6 June 2018.
• Bekoff, Marc. “‘Cat Wars’ Calls for Killing Free-Ranging Cats.” Psychology Today 31 Aug. 2016: Animal Emotions. PsychologyToday.com
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animal-emotions/201608/cat-wars-calls-killing-free-ranging-cats. Web. 9 Aug. 2018.
• Donovan, Jennifer. “Environmental Scientists Call North American Model of Wildlife Conservation Flawed.” Michigan Tech News,
Michigan Technological University, 27 Dec. 2017, www.mtu.edu/news/stories/2011/june/environmental-scientists-call-north-american-
model-wildlife-conservation-flawed.html. Web. 6 June 2018.
• Fears, Darryl. “A Judge Ripped this Federal Agency’s Justification for Killing Thousands of Wild Animals.” Washington Post 25 June 2018:
Animalia. WashingtonPost.com https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2018/06/25/a-judge-ripped-this-federal-agencys-
reasons-for-killing-thousands-of-wild-animals/?utm_term=.b0184b6aeb62. Web. 6 Aug. 2018.
• Marra, Peter and Chris Santella. Cat Wars: The Devastating Consequences of a Cuddly Killer. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University
Press, 2016. Print.
• Wallach, Arian et. al. “Summoning compassion to address the challenges of conservation.” Conservation Biology. (2018): 1-3. Print.

5 • Alley Cat Rescue www.SaveACat.org

Action for Cats
This Spring and Summer, aka Kitten Season, has been action-packed and full of
uplifting stories of colonies TNR’d, kittens saved, and injured cats nursed back to
health. We began with our annual May Spay Challenge that calls on veterinarians
and clinics to step forward on behalf of cats and provide low-cost or free spay/
neuter services for community cats. This year participating clinics, alongside
ACR’s Maryland and Los Angeles programs, set a new Challenge record for the

In Los Angeles, our staff have been making connections, increasing their involve-
ment in the community, and helping TNR in some interesting situations. We’re
making a big push in LA because right now TNR can only be done by private
citizens or groups like ACR. Due to a lawsuit, the city and county government are
barred from even talking about TNR, let alone providing any resources or assis-
tance toward it. There are currently an estimated 2-3 million free-roaming cats
there who could be helped by TNR.

One of these projects involved rescuing two mothers, their nine kittens, and one
male from a residential rooftop. Always intrepid, our team found a way to trap
on the roof and then get cats in traps down a ladder. A few of these kittens faced
challenges with illness, including emergency trips to the vet for high fevers, but Moms & kittens on a roof in LA.
after attentive care and socialization, each pulled through and was adopted into a
loving home!

Our Maryland crew have been hard at work TNR’ing with local businesses and residents, running the Cheap Fix spay/
neuter clinic, and of course, rescuing cats and kittens and nursing them back to health. Finding Kubo n our doorstep-
We’ve seen a rash of major injuries this year, many requiring amputation and extended healing time and rehabilitation.
Adult cats Thor, Tatito, and Zoe all lost legs, as did kittens Fife, Marleny, and Uma. For all these cats who’d been living
outside, these were life threatening injuries. Thanks to our amazing partner veterinarians and your financial support,
each one received life-saving care, was nursed back to health, and then placed in a forever home.

KUBO FIFE UMA SWEET GIRL

Special Recognition
Our work this Summer was supported by a generous bequest from Jacquelin L. Kiser. Ms. Kiser was a lifelong lover of
animals and we are proud to honor her legacy by providing services and care for free-roaming and homeless cats in
need. May her generous spirit live on in the souls of the cats she continues to provide for.

5
6 • Alley Cat Rescue www.SaveACat.org
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