Kauai Feeding Ban Fails to Protect Seabirds from Feral Cats

Author: Greg Pu'uwai Aloha Baker, MBA, CCM
Organization:  Hawai'i Animal Advocacy . Org
Date:  October 22, 2025
Copyright 2025 - All Rights Reserved

 

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In March 2022, the Kauai County Council passed a law banning the feeding of cats on county land. The intent, as stated by Vice Chair Chock, was simple: reduce the cat population.

Three years later, the evidence shows the opposite — the feeding ban has failed.

In September 2025, Archipelago Research & Conservation (ARC) reported that at least 120 Wedge-tailed Shearwaters were killed by feral cats at Ninini Point. The photos and videos released were dramatic and heartbreaking, yet they also expose an uncomfortable truth: Kauai’s feeding ban has not protected our birds — or reduced the number of cats.


The Feeding Ban and Trap-and-Kill Are Failing

Despite three years of enforcement, bird predation remains high. ARC even suggests the number of bird deaths is increasing — a major red flag for the health of this seabird colony and others like it.

In response, Kauai County is spending between $180,000 and $300,000 a year hiring Hallux Ecosystem Restoration LLC, a predator control company, to trap and kill cats near bird habitats. Based on various reports, roughly 1,200–2,000 cats are killed annually.

It has been alleged (though not yet verified) that cats are shot as the method of killing — a practice that raises ethical and potential legal concerns, as only veterinarians are typically allowed to perform humane euthanasia.

Even with both the feeding ban and lethal control, nothing has improved for the birds. As the ASPCA states clearly:

“The alternatives to community cat programs, including trap-euthanize strategies, have been shown to be impractical, ineffective, and often inhumane.”

 

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Better Solutions Exist

Kauai has an estimated 14,800 free-roaming cats — including feral, stray, and abandoned pets. Trap-and-kill removes only 8–13% of this population each year — far too few to make a real difference, especially as new cats migrate in.

Instead, the ASPCA recommends Trap-Neuter-Return-Monitor (TNRM) programs as the most humane and effective solution.

If Kauai redirected the $180,000–$300,000 it currently spends on killing cats toward free spay/neuter, at an estimated cost of $50 per cat, 3,600–6,000 cats could be fixed annually. Within three to four years, Kauai could sterilize over 70% of its community cats — the proven threshold for population decline.

An effective, humane plan combines high-intensity, targeted TNR, professional colony management, and adoption of socialized cats. With 5–7 years of sustained effort, Kauai could dramatically reduce its free-roaming cat population — possibly to near zero.


Pet Cats Are the Source — Keep Pets Home!

The root of the problem is not feral cats — it’s pet cats that become strays. To stop the flow of new cats into the community, Kauai must:

  • Offer free or low-cost spay/neuter for all pets,
  • Provide free food banks and veterinary care for low-income families, and
  • Reform rental housing rules to allow tenants to keep their pets.

Kauai’s 21,500 pet cats produce an estimated 775 to 1,290 new community cats each year through abandonment, loss, or dumping. Without addressing this, the population will rebound no matter how many cats are removed.

 

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Feeding Bans Don’t Work — Science Proves It

There is no scientific evidence that feeding bans reduce cat populations. The ASPCA, Best Friends Animal Society, and Alley Cat Allies all confirm that feeding bans are ineffective and often counterproductive.

Alley Cat Allies explains:

“Attempts to eradicate cats outdoors by starvation fail because there are other food sources… food scraps, garbage, and municipal waste. Cats are territorial and bond to their surroundings.”

The Maui Humane Society reports that feeding bans:

  • Increase bird predation by up to 50%,
  • Increase toxoplasmosis risk by driving cats to hunt more rats, and
  • Disrupt TNVR programs that stabilize colonies.

Feeding bans are not cat population management tools — they are failed policies.


ARC’s Videos: Awareness or Risk?

ARC’s recent video documented Wedge-tailed Shearwaters (Uaʻu kani), a native but not endangered seabird species. While awareness is valuable, showing the exact colony location may lead to disturbance — a violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), which prohibits approaching or handling protected birds without a federal permit.

ARC claimed feral cats were conclusively identified as predators, based on feces with bird feathers — evidence of scavenging, not necessarily killing. True scientific confirmation requires direct observation or camera footage.

ARC and similar organizations play a vital role in conservation, but transparency and adherence to MBTA permitting are essential. 

The goal must remain humane: reduce bird predation pressure by reducing cat populations — through proven, science-based methods.

 

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Sources

 

About The Author

Greg Puʻuwai Aloha Baker holds an MBA and a College Certificate in Community Cat Management from the University of the Pacific, a program focused on effective, humane methods to stabilize and reduce free-roaming cat populations. The program was taught by Stacey LeBaron, a nationally recognized expert with over 30 years of experience in community cat management, shelter operations, and TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return). LeBaron is best known for her leadership in the groundbreaking Newburyport, Massachusetts TNR project that successfully reduced a waterfront colony of 300 cats to zero by 2009, and for founding CommunityCatsPodcast.com.

Greg has been deeply involved in cat rescue and advocacy for more than five years, co-managing multiple community cat colonies in Pāhoa on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi as well as creating a mini-cat sanctuary for hard to adopt Community Cats. Through consistent TNR work, he has personally trapped, neutered, and returned over 70 cats. He also volunteers regularly at PetFix Spay/Neuter MASH events, providing critical support for both cats and dogs.

Greg’s commitment to humane cat management extends to policy advocacy. He founded Hawaiʻi Animal Advocacy Organization and led community efforts opposing the Hawaiʻi County Cat Feeding Ban (Bill 51), gathering over 7,500 petition signatures to defend community-based, science-driven animal welfare practices.

 

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