Data was collected during the latter part of 1998 via an anonymous survey distributed via the LIOC-ESCF Newsletter, two exotic animal industry publications, and the Internet. Completed questionnaires were received from 126 private owners with a combine total of over 5000 cat-years of experience. The data gathered allowed quantification of the risk private husbandry presents to the owner, family members/employees, and the general public in various situations including, authorized contact, unauthorized contact, and escape. Three levels of injury severity were recognized; requiring first aid, professional care, and fatal. In order to allow comparison to other activities, risk was calculated in injuries per cat-year of exposure. Attachment 1, summarizes the results.

Conclusion: Based on the data available as a result of this survey, the risk of injury associated that private captive husbandry of wild felines appears to be comparable to the risk associated with other more common and widely accepted activities such as ownership of domestic dogs and operation of motor vehicles.

For example, for privately held non-domestic cats the overall risk of injury (to owners, their family/employees, and the general public) requiring professional care is 1.2 E-2 per cat-year while for domestic dogs the probability is 1.5 E-2. (Source: January 1998, Journal of the American Medical Association) . It is postulated that the added level of caution normally exercised in the handling and containment of non-domestic cats, beyond that which is normally exercise with domestic dogs, accounts for this result.

The probability of an injury to a member of the general public requiring professional medical attention was 7.6 E-4 per cat-year. For comparative purposes the probability of an individual other than the driver/passenger (general public) being injured by a motor vehicle is about 1.7 E-2 per vehicle-year. (Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA) No injuries to a member of the general public resulting from the escape of a privately held non-domestic cat were reported as part of this survey.

No fatalities were reported by those responding to the survey. This suggests the risk of fatal injury resulting from private captive husbandry of non-domestic cats is less than <1.9 E-4 per cat-year exposure. The actually risk may in fact be lower but there was insufficient data to make this determination. For comparison the risk of being fatally injured by a motor vehicle in the U.S. is about 1.8 E-4 per vehicle-year. (Source: NHTSA)

Attachment 1