RICHMOND, Va. (CN) — A Virginia legislator wants to decrease the number of free-roaming cats, but advocates are split on the most humane and efficient method.
Republican Delegate Robert "Bobby" Orrock introduced a bill directing the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Service to establish a model plan for localities to reduce and control the population of free-roaming cats and the abandonment of cats.
"The feral cat problem is a major problem in many communities," Orrock said in an interview. "There's currently no state law to assist localities."
Free-roaming cats are often unsuitable for adoption as they struggle to adapt to life indoors. Animal welfare groups like the Virginia Federation of Humane Societies advocate a non-lethal, trap-neuter-vaccinate-return (TNVR) approach to reducing populations. Richmond SPCA spokesperson Tabitha Treloar called plans that include lethal means a complete moral failure.
"A community could never catch and kill their way to eliminating the existence of outdoor cats," Treloar said in an interview. "TNVR gives communities a practical way to reduce populations over time."
In contrast, conservation groups like the Wildlife Center of Virginia believe euthanizing the cats is the most practical solution to prevent further damage to wild species.
"Those of us who don't believe in outdoor cats are not necessarily anti-cat. We just want them to be kept in the house," president and founder of the Wildlife Center of Virginia Edward Clark Jr. said in an interview.
The bill empowers localities to adopt what they would like from the eventual plan without a one-size-fits-all solution, meaning some localities may adopt trap-neuter-vaccinate-return plans while some may begin impounding and euthanizing.
Orrock insisted that while the bill does not have language prohibiting the adaptation of lethal plans, it will be up to individual localities to choose how to handle the populations.
"I want to create a mechanism whereby we get stakeholders involved in the regs," Orrock said. "I know there are some local governments that don't want to touch it, and I understand that. Others are interested, but we've been told they don't want to work from a blank slate."
According to the Humane Society, community cats inhabit nearly every neighborhood in the United States and are estimated to have a population of over 30 million. While community cats are often referred to as feral — which means having escaped from domestication and returned to a wild state — the majority rely on humans for support.
Former Virginia Delegate Kenneth Plum tasked the secretaries of Public Health and Human Resources, Natural Resources, and Agriculture and Forestry to create a work group of stakeholders tasked with developing legislation to reduce and control the population of free-roaming cats in 2021. The group reached an impasse over disagreements between lethal and non-lethal measures, leading to some animal welfare groups leaving.
The group released a report in early 2023 that found an estimated 2.1 million free-roaming cats in Virginia, of which 1.2 million are unowned. Treloar said that volunteers across the state already work tirelessly to TNVR free-roaming cats and that state regulations would only burden these cat lovers.
"Regulation at a state level is not necessary for the volunteers to do this work," Treloar said. "If the state's goal was to limit the number of unhoused cats and protect other species of animal, letting these volunteers do that TNVR work is the best way forward."
Clark said that despite some organizations like the Richmond SPCA having rigorously managed programs, most volunteers need increased regulations.
"It will be far easier for localities to customize a local plan to address the damage that is done by outdoor cats to wildlife, the threat it poses to public health, and the problems that are caused for the cats themselves by a largely unregulated group of advocates and particularly these colony caretakers that are out taking care of feral cat colonies by doing so with no real standards of care," Clark said.
Regardless of opinion on free-roaming cats, it is a fact that they are responsible for a large percentage of wildlife deaths and injuries. According to Grant Sizemore, the director of American Bird Conservancy's Invasive Species Program, cats kill an estimated 2.4 billion birds every year.
"Tackling the free-roaming cat crisis that we're experiencing in Virginia would be a tremendous positive step for bird conservation throughout the Commonwealth," Sizemore said in an interview.
Another concern about free-roaming cats is their effect on public health, as they've been known to carry rabies and parasites harmful to humans. Should it pass, the bill directs the board, in consultation with relevant interested parties, to publicize regulations by July 31, 2025.
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