PROVO, Utah — The Best Friends Animal Society has rescinded an offer to the City of Provo totaling nearly $1 million that would have supported the funding and implementation of a city-wide community cat pilot program.
Under the proposed program, wild cats in the city would have been caught, vaccinated, and neutered before being released back into the wild. In a May 2023 poll, more than 70 percent of Provo voters said they favored a trap-neuter-vaccinate-release program over catch-and-kill.
In its announcement Thursday, the group said its offer, which spread over three years, was pulled back due to "delays and lack of communication" from city officials, adding that the Provo City Police Department opposed the program despite the City Council voting in favor of pursuing the offer.
Best Friends said they "will redirect the funding and support to partners and shelters that demonstrate a greater sense of urgency and commitment to save at-risk pets in shelters."
The group claims that Utah County has the highest euthanasia rate in the state with neither of the county's shelters being considered "no-kill status." According to data from the organization, 7.662 dogs and cats entered shelters in the county in 2023. Only 5,518 of those animals were saved by the shelter, meaning only a 72% survival rate for animals. A "no-kill shelter" is defined as one where 90% or more animals are saved.
In Salt Lake County, 25,428 cats and dogs entered its shelters in 2023, and of those, 22,738 were saved, representing an 89% survival rate.
In its statement, Best Friends claims "... two shelters in Utah County, North Utah Valley Animal Shelter and South Utah Valley Animal Shelter are responsible for 96% of all cats killed in the entire state." They added those numbers are largely due to the trapping, impounding, and killing of otherwise healthy outdoor cats.
Best Friends and Provo officials continued talks in November when the organization spoke to the city council about the proposed program.
At the meeting, Capt. Brian Wolken with the Provo Police Department's Special Operations Division, spoke out against supporting the pilot program, saying, "These cats are invasive species, they are just indiscriminate predators." Wolken also cited a U.S. Department of Agriculture publication that showed that, "TNR fails to reliably reduce free-ranging cat populations due to the inability to achieve a 70% or higher annual sterilization rate..."
Police officials advised the city to implement a code amendment that makes it illegal to feed wild deer, elk, moose, and turkeys, and include feral or wild cats. They also claimed that releasing the cats back into the wild is inhumane and will only perpetuate the problems associated with wild cats.
Another factor behind the police department's opposition to the program was cost, claiming that once the program ends, the cost to spay or neuter and vaccinate would cost $300-400 per cat.
Councilmember George Handley expressed doubt about sticking with the existing systems saying, "I don't see any way in which the status quo addresses any of those issues to our satisfaction."
At the end of the discussion, the council voted to approve the recommendation to the mayor in favor of the program.
The following statement from Provo City is in response to Best Friends contact of media outlets notifying of their withdraw of support:
For some time, Provo City has been considering a proposal from Best Friends to implement a Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) program for managing feral cat populations. We appreciate their interest in working in our community, their dedication to animal welfare, and their patience as we carefully evaluated this issue from multiple perspectives.
TNR programs have strong advocates who believe such programs are in the best interests of the animals. However, some national studies have found these programs to be ineffective. Even People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has published an official stance that TNR programs do not improve the quality of life for feral cats and are not usually a humane option—particularly in environments like ours, where factors such as weather present significant challenges.
Throughout our review process, we have heard from citizens on both sides of the issue and consulted with veterinary and animal control experts. Concerns have been raised about the continued impact for residents who live near feral cat populations, as well as the impact on public health and local wildlife, including the potential spread of diseases such as avian flu. Additionally, there is a tax-payer cost consideration for continuation of such a program.
While we were still in the process of evaluating these factors, Best Friends informed us they were withdrawing their funding offer for the program. While our findings thus far had indicted a TNR program was not right for Provo, we sincerely appreciate Best Friends' willingness to collaborate and understand their decision to focus their resources elsewhere.
