Myth 1: Feral cats can be eradicated by trapping and killing.
Fact: Many decades of eradication campaigns have done nothing to reduce the numbers of stray and feral cats. Survivors breed exponentially; new cats move in, and reproduce, to take advantage of whatever food and shelter exist. This is called the “vacuum effect.”
Myth 2: Feral cats present a high risk of spreading rabies.
Fact: Rabies in the U.S. is overwhelmingly a disease found in wildlife. From 1990-2002, only 36 people died from rabies in this country, and not one of them contracted the disease from a cat.
Myth 3: Feral cats are sickly and diseased.
Fact: Scientific studies show that feral cats in managed colonies generally enjoy the same good health, fitness, and low occurrence of disease enjoyed by pet cats.
Myth 4: Feral cats are a significant cause of bird and wildlife depletion.
Fact: Numerous studies by government and environmental groups indicate that the overwhelming causes of wildlife depletion are destruction of habitat due to human development, manmade structures, chemical pollution, pesticides, and drought, not feral cats.