There would be no feral cats without careless or irresponsible pet owners who either purposely or inadvertently allow their unaltered cats to roam free or "dump" them. The potential for unaltered cats to reproduce in exponential numbers when supplied with a sufficient food source is staggering.

Under the circumstances, legislation, at least at the local level, pertaining to the licensing, sterilization, and control of pet cats is in order. Many, if not most municipalities have ordinances addressing the responsibility of owners toward dogs. Such ordinances can be used as models for cat laws.

While it is well documented that an increase in the number of cats requires an increase in the amount of food that must be provided, it is equally true that an increase in food results in an increase in the number of cats, where the cats are unaltered.

Basically, the population number of feral cats is a function of the amount of food available to them. The basic biological reality that birth rates decrease where food is scarce and increase where it is plentiful should lead to a focus on how humans are feeding free-roaming cats. Such a "root cause" approach is infinitely more productive that a "who do we sue?" approach.

A critical area of local focus should be the elimination of open containers containing edible garbage. An entire colony of cats might exist in and around a single garbage dumpster behind a shopping mall. The cats are generally not there looking for food; they are there because they 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 sealing 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 most local governments, rethinking waste management policies is critical to feral cat population control.