Plan to end 'humane' cat-control program protested

Yeah, right! The cat problem became worse, and what about the birds?

Critics say ordinance made Carteret's problem worse
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
BY AMISHA PADNANIStar-Ledger Staff
Animal-welfare representatives rallied outside Carteret's board of health last night to protest a plan to rescind an ordinance aimed at controlling the borough's feral cat population.
"This is an absolute tragedy," said Josi Tozzi, president of the Carteret Animal Welfare League and one of about two dozen people at the rally. "Trap-neuter-return is the only effective, humane program to reduce the number of outdoor cats in Carteret."
The trap-neuter-release program is designed to control stray cats and prevent diseases. Typically, cats are trapped, neutered, vaccinated for rabies and checked for fleas before they are released.
In Carteret, volunteers, referred to as "feeders," have set up stations where they will feed small groups of cats twice a day.
The borough did not institute its own trap-neuter-release program but passed an ordinance more than a year ago allowing volunteers to perform the service at their own cost.
Initially, officials said they saw the program as a good way to decrease the stray cat population because the cats would not be able to reproduce. Instead, they have been inundated with complaints from residents who say cats are taking over their backyards.
"They defecate and pee and do their business on my property," said Grace Carolla, who said she lives next door to a feeder. "It seems that these cats never leave."
Carolla said she is not against the trap-neuter-release program, but she would prefer the cats are not fed near her property because they tend to gather there in groups and attract other stray cats.
However, animal rescue volunteers at the meeting said it would be inhumane to let the cats starve.
Residents for and against the program confronted health officials at their monthly meeting. What began as a routine meeting quickly turned into a heated discussion between the board and the residents. Many people spoke at once and out of turn.