i have a guy that called me about bunch of strays that have been populating for a wial. i am wondering what to charge the guy is about 8 miles away. anybody got any ideas on what to charge dont want to over price for him but dont want to screw myself eighter. help would be great.

Make sure you have a place to go with the cats. That would figure in to the price. Might be more problems than it is worth. Be sure that you get a written contract. Catch the cats and transfer to his carry case for him to do something with. Good luck.

That does not answer your question. I would get my regular fee plus what it takes to get rid of the cats. If he takes the cats, that is his problem.

Do not talk about it in your area. The wrong people find out about it and you will have no end of problems even if you are doing everything legel.

I would talk to animal control first, what is your time worth to you. As far as pricing goes, every area is different. I would treat it no different than a opossum etc. I charge more for skunks.
If you have to take the cat further away, it is going to cost more.

i have decided i dont think i am going to deal with it. i allready have enough problems with people and there way of thinking were i am from. i will just stick to wildlife.

Smart decision c walker!!!

Probably a good choice. In NY we cannot get involved with cats or dogs. They need to call animal control.

Here is what we do: charge normal, take cat to SPCA and charge for that (we get a receipt from the SPCA so there is a paper trail.) Have contract with customer with provision for customer donation to SPCA. There are a lot of details to be worked out ahead of time both with the customer, SPCA, local authoities etc. Provision in contract for sabotage of traps by cat ladies or do gooders, etc.
For all the work the compensation MUST BE WORTH IT TO YOUR BUSINESS. There is opportunity. A very high quote will filter out those who do not have the will or the resources. Low balling cats is asking for trouble and woe.

ps I have a long standing good relationship with all - local LEO's, Magistrates, State police & SPCA's. Cats here are considered the responsibility of the person whose property they are residing or feeding on.

Here it costs $110 to give a feral cat the local cat resuce. This is for neuturing and shots.

I agree with Phil, now what you will do with the Cats, be legal and charge the proper fee. Many people are in need of cat removal/trapping. It is NOT a wildlife control issue in most states.treat it separate as far as license permits are considered, but it can be profitable and trapping skills are required. This animal will test your people skills!!

I had a lengthy conversation with the usda regarding cats. Cats are legal to roam free and there isn't much you can do about it. If you do take them to a shelter ( and their is a paper trail) you could be sued. You cant kill them and if you do you could face a felony. Animal control officers cannot just remove these animals. The usda did say that laws on cats need to be changed but they cannot do it alone and asked me to contact my legislator regarding this issue.

The federal government (usda is federal) cannot usurp state powers (9th & 10th Amendment to the Constitution) PERIOD. Nowhere in the Constitution is the federal government granted authority to regulate cats. Each state, indeed in some places, each municipality, make laws/ordinance dealing with cats. I would welcome some idiot enforcement goon from the usda try to arrest me. Senor~ federale want to charge me with felony cat possession - not going to happen where I live. ACLU would get the slobbers to jump on that wagon. And as far as a civil suit, it would have to go through my local district court whom I have worked with on cat issues, and I would counter sue them up the wazoo.

I also agree with Phil but it don't surprise me you found some scumbag from the USDA who think they are the authority about them too.

Cats are companion animals and any kind of work you do with them will stir up strong emotions of someone somewhere.You will need to know the laws of each and every municipality and the personalities who think they know whats best for cats not people or native wildlife.

The only time I trap for cats is to close off a structure that needs to be tented for termites period.They simply are not worth the trouble, Cat trapping IMO is never worth the money for the problems they bring with them.

I did an Interview with Dr Stephen Vantassel UNL in 2011 . He has published many articles on the subject http://www.sitesbyrobb.com/podcast-feral-cat-handling-considerations-2011/

Being right can cost you a lot of money,time and effort. Just not worth the hassle. JMO

Mr. Stewart,

Can you illuminate how this conversation went? I read by your writing that you somehow called the USDA and asked them about feral cats, or saw them somewhere (a booth or other location) and asked them about feral cats.

I read that they simply told you what state law was?

Other than T&E species work on beaches in CA and other locations for plovers and such, I've never seen USDA WS talking about feral cats.

I'm just trying to clean this up and get back on track Robb and Phil. I'd bet my bottom dollar that USDA WS didn't intimate they they have any
authority or control over feral cats, laws or removal.

Telling a caller information about a question they have is just "technical assistance" and it happens every day all around the country by both
feds and state folks, sometimes the person answering won't have a clue and will refer that person to someone else locally in this case would have
been city animal control or spca folks, but obviously the one answering the phone was informed and wanted to pass along good info and
also passed along that it would be great if more citizens like Mr. Stewart were to push this issue to the legislature in Michigan.

Again, just believe this is getting off track because of the vague nature of the statement quoted.

The topic is a good one and stands alone without heading off into the weeds.

Justin

p.s. having worked in Michigan I personally know all of their people even though it was more than a decade back and not one of them should be
referred to in that way Robb, come on.

Nowhere in the Constitution is the federal government granted authority to regulate spinach either and yet they do.



Yep. In NH it's a town by town decision on how feral cats are handled.

When contemplating a feral cat job you must get everyone on board. In NH most towns don't have an AC officer and really could care less but you have to ask and make sure.

The alternative is a complete stealth job. I have no problem with that. Acting as the land owner/occupants agent, we can eliminate nuisance animals (non-furbearers) with no license at all.

As time goes on, I'm sure the regulations will get nailed down. Feral cats are a huge problem and will only become more so in the future.

As far as cats go there are to many spineless politicians to ever get a quorum to agree on what really is need to stop the feral cat problem. As PROLINE stated Cats will test your people skills.

Not a big fan of cat jobs. I quote high and hope I don't get it.
Cats being such a sensitive subject with people I go at night and stay with the traps. I really don't like my gear stolen.

If you take the time and effort prior to starting you project you can be successful and profitable.

First, ensure you can legally take the cats (check municipal and state ordinances).

Second, ensure the person contacting you has authority to enter into a contract to deal with this situation.

Third, ensure you have a means to deal with the animals once they are captured.

Fourth, consider all aspects of the job before getting started.

We provided cat removeal service to a commercial entity that had persons coming on site to feed a feral colony. Our client was authorized to contract with us, we could legally take the cats, and we made arrangements to dispose of the cats at a humane shelter. However the "feeders" were going to make a big stink.

My competitors proposed setting some traps and coming back every day to check (once a day).

I informed our potential client that his issue was not a cat issue but a people issue. He was instructed to notify the "feeders" that they were trespassing. We made arrangements to trap between 9pm and midnight and posted security. Security were to stop anyone from accessing the area, anyone who did so was subject to arrest for tresspassing, period. We also notified local law enforcement so they would be prepared for a call shoul it occur.

My wife and I caught 42 cats in three nights (total time 9 hours). We used five traps, and a large transfer cage in the truck. All cats were taken to the humane society for evaluation for adoption (I don't think any of them met standards). We obtained a receipt for all cats.

The "feeders" then called the TV and Newspaper, as they had threatened to do. They contacted my client and I had instructed him to simply state,"Yes, we captured the cats and took them to the Humane Society, hopefully they will all find new homes. If you would like to come out for an in person interview I will be happy to talk to you and show you the paperwork we got when we dropped them off." That killed the story right there. No one ever came out, no interview, no controversy to sell news. The "feeders" no longer had anything to feed, so they moved on. The cats were gone so the concerns about liability and disease were solved.

We made a considerable amount of money on this job, because we were willing to address the issue as a whole, not just the fact that cats needed to be removed.

On a side note, we watched a groundhog go into one of our traps, after the cat food, about 1130 at night. I thought that was the coolest thing of the whole project.

Dirk, thank you for laying it so professionally. That's how it's done folks, cat work is a PIA but it can be done.

I'm always looking for stories and Dirk came up with a dandy!