Help Stop the Mass-Trapping and Euthanasia of Cats in Evanston

A cat hangs out around 1915 Grant Street in Evanston. (Chicago Tribune photo by Jonathan Bullington / January 26, 2010)

 

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UPDATE 2/25/10

We are happy to report that 13 of the Evanston colony cats from Grant Street are now living in four different barn homes. Their new caretakers have reported that they are adjusting slowly but surely. All of the cats are confined to stalls or rooms during their acclimation period but will be released in another two weeks or so.

One of the cats rescued from Grant Street was a six-month-old kitten who we have been socializing at our shelter headquarters. This darling black kitty now called Marian has really blossomed over the last several weeks. She has gone from shy and frightened to curious and affectionate. She is constantly purring and making “happy paws”. Alderman Fiske has decided that this sweet, strong kitty deserves a good home back in her hometown so she has decided to adopt her. Marian is currently being treated for coccidian and an eye infection but we anticipate that she’ll be ready to go home in 2-3 weeks!

Thus far, through our community outreach efforts we have had reports of one large, male cat still hanging around the Grant Street colony. Our volunteer trappers are hoping to get him and any other cats as soon as possible. We also hope that we can find a new caretaker in the area who will care for these cats responsibly.

We just registered a new colony caregiver from Evanston today. So far, this person has trapped two cats--one of which was a kitten who we admitted to our adoption program on Tuesday!

Each week we are making a little more progress. Stay tuned!

UPDATE 2/18/10

Alderman Judy Fiske and Megan Lutz from CARE for the Evanston shelter attended our Community Cats TNR workshop last night to learn more about TNR and colony management and to see the three remaining Evanston cats we currently are boarding at the Bucktown Branch. These cats along with any others that are trapped this week will be relocated to another barn home asap.

We have started distributing letters to the neighbors around the 1900 block of Grant Street to see if there are any cats left in the area, recruit potential caretakers and to gage interest in a community meeting so we can discuss our plans and get more feedback from the neighbors. 

Although this project started off tragically, we are very happy that we have formed a strong partnership with CARE, and that we have the attention of Evanston officials. We are looking forward to partnering with CARE’s newly formed TNR task force which will allow CARE volunteers to take an active role in addressing TNR and feral cats in Evanston so that this type of thing doesn't happen again. 

We've already received notification of another unmanaged feral cat colony in Evanston and we hope to work with CARE to address the situation. We hope to train the resident who is currently feeding the cats to become a registered colony manager in accordance with the Cook County Managed Care of Feral Cats ordinance.

We also plan to work with students at Northwestern University to help with a feral cat colony there.

In the end, this is going to be a long-term project, but the benefits will also be long-lasting. We hope that our work in Evanston will change the way feral cat issues are addressed for years to come both there and across Chicagoland.

We are grateful for Alderman Fiske for her support and her advocacy on behalf of animals in Evanston. Without her we wouldn’t have accomplished all that we have so far. We are also grateful to Megan Lutz of CARE for the Evanston Animal Shelter for heading up the Feral Cat Task Force. Together we will make a lasting difference for the cats.

UPDATE 2/11/10

• 14 cats have been trapped from the 1900 block of Grant Street in Evanston and have received our feral package services (eight of these were already spayed/neutered and two had microchips).
• Five have been transferred to a barn home in Manhattan, IL.
• Two are being socialized at our shelter.
• Seven more are awaiting transfer to a new outdoor location.

Initially, we agreed to relocate up to 15 cats to new sites. After that, we have asked to return any new cats to Evanston-- ideally to their former territory-- under the management of registered feral cat colony caregivers. We estimate that there are fewer than 10 cats left in the area. As we reported several days ago, Evanston euthanized 34 cats before agreeing to work with us. Ten days passed from the time we made the first phone call to the Chief Animal Warden until the day the first group of cats arrived at our clinic. During that time, we tried repeatedly to get them to stop trapping and euthanizing the cats. We can’t help but wonder how many of the cats that were euthanized before we were able to help had also been spayed/neutered and/or microchipped. We are in the process of starting a community outreach campaign in Evanston in an effort to educate the community about TNR and managed feral cat colonies and to recruit new caretakers in the city. What we are waiting on now is an answer to our question about returning some of the cats back to their old neighborhood and/or at the very least relocating them to new colonies in Evanston. We hope that the City of Evanston will embrace the “Managed Care of Feral Cats Ordinance” and allow volunteer caregivers to manage their city’s feral cats in a humane and effective way. We are committed to working with CARE volunteers to establish a TNR program in Evanston so that situations like the one that occurred in the 1900 block of Grant Street can be avoided in the future.

UPDATE 2/6/10

Tree House Humane Society is pleased that we were finally able to reach an agreement with the city of Evanston to save the lives of the few cats who are still left around the property at 1915 Grant Street in Evanston.

Seven cats who were trapped last Monday 2/1, are currently safe and recovering from spay/neuter surgery at our Bucktown Branch. We are in the process of trying to find a safe place to relocate them.

We will continue working with Evanston Animal Control to trap any remaining cats throughout the rest of the month. We are hoping that if we trap any others that Evanston officials will allow them to be returned to the neighborhood and managed by registered feral cat caretakers.  We hope to come to an agreement about this next week.

We sincerely hope that this experience will lead to a new era in Evanston where Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs are embraced as a humane and effective way to manage feral cats and antiquated and ineffective trap and kill methods are no longer the preferred method of dealing with the city's stray and feral cat population.

We look forward to guiding the community in this direction and to working with the many Evanston residents who want to see animals treated humanely in their community.
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orignally posted 2/1/2010

By now many Chicago area cat-lovers know Evanston began to trap and euthanize feral cats in a large colony on the 1500 block of Grant Street in Evanston.

Tree House wants to help formulate a more humane plan using Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR). TNR is well established and endorsed by Cook County, so we hope that Evanston will work with us to address this issue in an effective and compassionate way. Tree House has contacted the Chief Animal Warden and has sent a letter to the city of Evanston offering our advice and assistance in establishing a humane and effective approach for the cats. We know Evanston's current plan of eradication is costly and will not work because of the vacuum effect, which means that other cats eventually replace those who were there before. Evanston should know that there are better and humane ways to address feral cat populations in their city. Please urge Evanston to consider a more humane option for the cats!

Read a notice about Evanston's Plan

Link to Pioneer Press Article

Link to the Chicago Tribune Article

To contact Evanston city officials, click here