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P��� 22 PERSPECTIVES FROM PAGE 15 ing ends meet, some possibly at a small profit, others slowly being forced out of business due to politics or lack of patrons, or sadly, both. We should be very appre- ciative of these businesses staying open to serve our community even though they know they will be losing money ($) in the summer. Some of our owners are residents, others not, but still care to do business here. We have a wonderful town, a safe town, a town at the start of great growth potential. The possibilities exist for many good things to come, good things to nurture in our future genera- tions who have a great place to advance the growth of Quartzsite. Yes, we need many more services, more stores, more homes, more, more…let’s start by help- ing ALL of the businesses in town. They are here for the right reasons. And, we would like Quartzsite to succeed, and grow. Our ‘Quirky’ Quartzsite should open its arms and say, “Welcome, enjoy our uniqueness, come and stay awhile, or, move right on in.” If you have stories, comments or ques- tions of interest and/or would like to be interviewed, please write to me at: Per- spectives: Violet Kiss, PO Box 4883, Quartzsite, AZ 85359-4883. ���.D�����M��������.��� FERAL CATS FROM PAGE 18 dictions where liability depends upon ownership, this principle possibly could be determinative. Holding land owners responsible when cats on their property prey on protected bird species would encour- age responsible cat management and localize the problem to a great extent. All concerned agree, the behavior of cat owners toward their pets must be addressed in order to get this problem under control. There would be no feral cats without careless or irresponsible pet owners who either purposely or in- advertently allow their unaltered cats to roam free or “dump” them. The po- tential for unaltered cats to reproduce in exponential numbers when sup- plied with a sufficient food source is staggering. Under the circumstances, legislation, at least at the local level, pertaining to the licensing, and con- trol of pet cats is in order. Many, if not most municipalities have ordinances addressing the responsibility of own- ers toward dogs. Such ordinances can be used as models for cat laws. Do you happen to know off hand, does the Town of Quartzsite have such an ordi- nance? Feral cat colonies exist only where there is a human-supplied food source. While colony managers are well aware that an increase in the number of cats requires an increase in the amount of food that must be provided, it is equal- ly true that an increase in food results in an increase in the number of cats, where the cats are unaltered. Stated otherwise, the population number of feral cats is a function of the amount of food available to them. The basic bio- logical reality that birth rates decrease where food is scarce and increase where it is plentiful should lead us to focus on how residents in and around Quartz- site are feeding free-roaming cats. A critical area of focus in Quartzsite should be the elimination of open con- tainers containing edible garbage. An entire colony of cats might exist in and around a single garbage dumpster be- hind a store or place of business. The cats are generally not there looking for food; they are there because they A����� 3, 2011 have found food and are protecting it; this is what defines a feral cat colony. Several generations of cats within the colony have survived potentially off of this one dumpster. By properly seal- ing such containers from access by cats, the birth rates within the colony will decrease and the colony will reach a sustainable size. Although policing dumpsters is hardly a priority of our local police and code enforcement of- ficer, rethinking waste management policies could be critical to feral cat population control. People must deal with cat overpopula- tion both by refusing to created more wild cats in the first place through aban- donment, blocking, stopping or getting rid of the feral cat shelters (abandoned building, sheds, open canisters, dump- sters etc), and by preventing the feral cat population growth which occurs where food is made abundantly avail- able to the feral cats. 1. Arizona State Statutes. CAN‛T FIND “THE MESSENGER”? JOIN THE THOUSANDS READING IT ONLINE! Sign up for FREE VIP alerts when the next E-edition of the DESERT MESSENGER is available @ www.DesertMessenger.com From June 29-July 28, 2011 there was 23,028 page views! PUZZLE PAGE (page 20) ANSWERS