Feral Cats, TNR & the Law

Presented by:  Bryan Kortis, JD, Executive Director, Neighborhood Cats

Tuesday, August 18:  6-7:30 am Hawaii; 9-10:30 pm pacific; 10-11:30 am mountain; 11-12:30 pm central; 12-1:30 pm eastern

Thursday, August 20:  9-10:30 am Hawaii; 12-1:30 am pacific; 1-2:30 pm mountain; 2-3:30 pm central; 3-4:30 pm eastern

Working with free-roaming cats and implementing a community Trap-Neuter-Return program inevitably involves crossing paths with the legal system. Being aware of these laws will help you deal with them to the advantage of your program and the cats and caretakers you’re trying to help. On the other hand, not being aware of applicable laws could lead to serious repercussions and threaten the viability of your efforts.

In this webinar, the third in our series on free-roaming cats, we’ll take a broad look at legal issues you need to know about. We’ll examine state laws which define the rights of cats and their guardians in general, local ordinances which mandate pet limits, licensing and other requirements surprisingly relevant to feral cat colonies, and public health regulations, plus we’ll discuss what to do about it if any of these are hostile to TNR.

We’ll explain the Endangered Species Act and how it could impact your program as well as the Freedom of Information Act and how to use it to get data you need, but also defend against attempts to force your program to reveal confidential information like colony registrations. TNR ordinances will be examined to see which ones might work best for your community and we’ll discuss liability issues which often arise in working with feral cats.

Don’t wait until a summons arrives! After this webinar, you’ll be better able to stay on the right side of the law.

Register at:  http://petsmartcharities.webex.com.