BOOKS: Humane how-tos
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2000:
Trap, Neuter, & Return: A Humane Approach to Feral Cat Control Video from Alley Cat Allies
(1801 Belmont Road NW, Suite 201, Washington, DC 2009), 1999. 42 minutes. $16.00.
How To Control Beaver Flooding Edited by Sharon T. Brown, M.A., and Joseph W. Brown, Ph.D. Beavers: Wetlands & Wildlife (146 Van Dyke Rd., Dolgeville, NY 13329), 1999. 12 pages. $2.00 each, bulk rates available.
Can You Turn A Wolf Into A Dog? Commonly Asked Questions About Having Wolves and Hybrids as Pets by Pat Tucker & Bruce Weide Wild Sentry (POB 172, Hamilton, MT 59840), 2000. 24 pages. $2.00 each, bulk rates available.
Trap, Neuter, & Return; How To Control Beaver Flooding; and Can You Turn A Wolf Into A Dog? are three references that shelters, rescue groups, and wildlife advocates will really use. Each answers all the common questions about the topic. Each can be excerpted for mass media use. Each can be integrated into public education.
How To Control Beaver Flooding a n d Can You Turn A Wolf Into A Dog? are designed for use as handouts. Trap, Neuter, & Return could be circulated as a loaner.
Trap, Neuter, & Return is unfortunately about twice as long as it needs to be, because almost everything in it seems to be said at least twice, albeit by different people. This could prove problematic if one tries to show it to general audiences.
A better approach might have been to use the redundant parts as self-contained clips on key topics, accessible at the Alley Cat Allies web site. As Trap, Neuter, & Return will probably be used as the main video reference on humane feral cat control for years to come, this may yet be done.
