UC Davis study doesn’t work for SF

Both SF SPCA and SFACC are making their recommendations to leave unweaned kittens outside with their mom based on studies from Dr. Kate Hurley at UC Davis. Here Dr. Hurley claims 75% of kittens will die before they are 6 months old. Since San Francisco doesn’t have these problems in our shelters why are they following her ecommendation to leave them outside?

New Paradigms for Shelters and Community Cats Dr. Kate Hurley, DVM, MPVM Koret Shelter Medicine Program University of California-Davis Davis,

Dr. Julie Levy, DVM, PhD, DACVIM Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program University of Florida Gainesville, Florida 

Page 5, Last Paragraph:

"While adult cats can thrive in the community, kittens are less likely to survive. In one study, 75% of feral kittens died or disappeared before 6 months of age, a survival rate similar to other small carnivores[20]. TNR programs will alleviate this risk by reducing reproduction. Kittens should also be prioritized for rehoming through sheltering programs whenever possible[16]. However, euthanasia rates of 75% or higher are not uncommon for shelter cats[9, 10]; thus when a better chance of survival can’t be provided by a shelter, healthy kittens may still be better off remaining in place or being rehomed through another avenue."