Dear Town of Whitby Mayor, Councillors, (Animal Control):

I am creating a petition because:

There are dozens and dozens of volunteers in Durham Region who are trapping feral cats; having them trapped, neutered, and released (unable to breed), in an effort to control and manage the feral cat population in Whitby and surrounding region.  The Town of Whitby is implementing a cull project that will enable the town to simply kill feral cats, including those who have already been neutered, and we find this action to be inhumane, cruel, and unnecessary.

The Town of Whitby should consider alternatives to just simply killing these  innocent cats and kittens (through no fault of their own), and instead put the funds that they would otherwise use to cull these poor creatures to the support and stepping up the TNR efforts of current volunteers (many of which are using their own personal funds to undertake this action, and instead launch and support a TNR Project in the Town of Whitby.   Please stop such a cruel and unnecessary feral cat cull program, and explore other efforts such as launching and supporting a TNR program that would have a much better (humane and compassionate) outcome! 

Interestingly, Whitby has seemingly accommodated the coyote population, so why do you find it necessary to cull feral cats, especially those who have been already neutered?

In the attached article, the City of Kingston has successfully supported a program enabling TNR (Trapping, Neutering, and Releasing) feral cats.  

http://www.thewhig.com/2015/07/12/no-kittens-born-in-colonies
No kittens born in colonies
A local animal charity is celebrating a kitten milestone after seeing a zero population growth for the first time.
thewhig.com

The City of Toronto has also created and continues to support their own (Toronto) Feral Cat Program....

Why can't the Town Whitby also be forward thinking and do the same?  It would appear that supporting such a Feral Cat TNR program would be a much more responsible, humane, and economical use of the public funds.

Additionally, the scientific community has reported that culling feral cats is actually detrimental, and does not solve the issue.  Are decision makers aware of this?

http://www.sciencealert.com/culling-feral-cats-may-actually-increase-their-numbers-study-suggests

Please abandon your plan to launch a feral cat cull initiative, and instead establish, and support a TNR Program for Feral Cats in Whitby.