Home » News » Feral Cats a Problem?...

News

Feral Cats a Problem?

November 11, 2008, 6:45PM MT
By Judy L Marshall
Sunny Isles Beach, Florida city officials and citizens are debating on the fate of the local feral cats.

Sunny Isles Beach, Florida city officials and citizens are debating on the fate of the local feral cats.

Posted by Judy Marshall, Best Friends Network Volunteer Program

For 10 years, a handful of ladies, citizens of Sunny Isles Beach, FL, have been feeding and caring for the local feral cats. During that time, the city of Sunny Isles Beach has provided the women $25.00 vouchers per cat for vaccines and spay/neuter surgeries, which are performed at the Humane Society of Miami. The ladies do not belong to any organization or non-profit group and rely on each other to help pay for the cat food, trap the cats and transport them to and from Humane Society of Miami for the sterilization procedures.

In the 10 years since they began to spay/neuter, the feral cat population in the city has decreased from over 300 cats to approximately 100 cats, living in six colonies. When possible, the ladies also catch and find homes for the kittens, which also helps control the feral cat population.

Recently, the ladies have been informed by city officials that they can no longer feed the feral cats that reside in the public park, but the city officials want them to continue to have the feral cats spayed/neutered.

A public meeting has been scheduled to discuss the fate of the feral cats. Please lend your support and attend the meeting to help the ladies in their efforts to continue caring for the feral cats. If you can not attend, please contact the Sunny Isles Beach city officials and voice your support for the proper and humane care of the feral cats.

When:
10:00 a.m., Tuesday, November 18th

Where:
Sunny Isles Beach
Government Center
18070 Collins Avenue
Sunny Isles Beach, FL 33160
(map to location)

City of Sunny Isles Beach contact information:
Robert Solera
Phone: 305-792-7105
Fax: 305-792-1565

Helena Forbes
Phone: 305-792-1772
Fax: 305-792-7569

Photo of feral cat by J. Marshall
Comments
Posted November 14, 2008, 2:38AM by QMD333
Feral1,

God Bless you and everyone else who feeds and cares for those precious feral cats.

This is an outrage!

We, BF members stand with you, united.

We will help you fight this every step of the way!!

I signed the petition, and sent it to family/friends.

PS Has any BF representatives contacted the silly humans who "thought" up this idea, and educated them on TNR?

PPS Alley Cat Allies may be able to help too:
www.alleycat.org

Keep fighting the good fight!!
Posted November 14, 2008, 8:24AM by feral1
QMD333 - I have explained this to the city officials and I think they are getting it. We have spoken with the Vice-Mayor of the city and he understands that there is NO WAY! We will stop feeding the cats and they must come up with a solution. We do not bother anyone. Some of the ladies feed very early in the morning around 4:00 am and I get the night shift, which is fine with me, I am a night person anyways. I am hoping that on Tuesday, we find a workable solution. I will keep BF posted.

Again, thanks! I really appreciate the support.
Posted November 14, 2008, 11:46AM by drlicensesearthlinknet
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
Mohandas Gandhi
Posted November 18, 2008, 7:20PM by JLM
I want to post an update to the story. I received an email from one of the cat caregivers and she is thrilled of the outcome of the meeting they had today with the city officials.

The caregivers will be given name badges, identifying them as official feeders and there will be assigned feeding stations for the cats.

Kudos to the City of Sunny Isles Beach, FL for going the extra mile to ensure that the feral cats in their community continue to receive proper and humane care.
Posted November 15, 2008, 6:58PM by summerlomba
Feeding is a critical part of tnr. It keeps the cats healthy, keeps them from fighting over food and territory, it can prevent cats from roaming and getting run over by cars in search of food, prevents the terrible sight of starving cats looking through dumpsters for anything to eat, and don't forget the pet stores sell lots of cat food because of us! Feral people are a constant revenue source for pet stores and vets. In an economy like this, don't take away money from local businesses. Our city governments should be encouraging compassion towards animals, not discouraging it. If we had more compassion, five million dogs and cats wouldn't lose their lives every year in shelters.
Posted November 16, 2008, 6:52AM by feral1
I will let everyone know what happens after the meeting on Tuesday. I believe we will find a solution that will benefit all.
Posted November 13, 2008, 1:28PM by southerndogmom
feral1 - since a public meeting is scheduled, let me know if you have any need for my humane education video about ferals, colonies and TNR. Drop me an email via BF or post here and I'll check back.
Posted November 17, 2008, 4:25PM by summerlomba
From the website Birdx.com
"Besides being direct carriers of disease, nuisance birds are frequently associated with over 50 kinds of ectoparasites, which can work their way throughout structures to infest and bite humans. About two-thirds of these pests may be detrimental to the general health and well-being of humans and domestic animals".

http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww23eiii.htm
Website talks about life threatening diseases people catch from birds.
Posted November 13, 2008, 8:28AM by feral1
I am one of the ladies who feeds and cares for the feral cats in Sunny Isles Beach. I started a petition, please go to

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/not-feeding-the-feral-cats-in-not-only-inhumane-but-cruel

and sign my petition
Posted November 14, 2008, 2:59AM by QMD333
I just thought of something:

Perhaps I am giving the humans who want to starve those poor cats, too much credit, but perhaps they will change their minds, if they are made aware of the fact that feral cats who have come to rely on particular people (such as feral1) for food, WILL HAVE A HARD TIME SURVIVING, UNLIKE FERALS WHO REGULARLY LOOK FOR FOOD IN DIFFERENT PLACES (I.E. While still "feral", these cats, in a sense have become domesticated, in that THEY TRUST AND RELY ON THE SAME GOOD PEOPLE LIKE FERAL1 AND OTHERS TO FEED THEM. They dont know any other way of finding food, like "regular" feral cats, who dont have the blessing of having such nice people caring for them, do.

The ignorant people who thought up this cruel, thoughtless, heartless, "stop feeding them" idea, may be under the incorrect assumption that feral cats can always, and easily find food, which is not the case when the ferals have had the same wonderful ladies feeding them for as long as these ferals have. If people can be made aware of this, perhaps they will see that these feral cats ARE domesticated in the sense that they rely on the same people and the same places for food, unlike regular feral cats, who learn to roam in search of food, and who know how to survive without becoming reliant on any particular individuals.

Just a thought.
Posted November 17, 2008, 2:31PM by Joy
I have removed comments. Members may post comments, but personal attacks will not be tolerated. I am tired of posting warnings to the same people. Any further offensive posts will be deleted and the poster's membership privileges terminated without warning.
Posted November 15, 2008, 7:13PM by summerlomba
I signed your petition Feral1. I haven't seen it posted yet hope it went through. Good luck to you and the kitties and please let us know what happens. They should leave these feral problems up to the pros like us! We know how to get the job done and at no cost to the tax payers. And I want to say this again, we are good business for the pet stores (I buy tons of dry food a month) and vets who fix our cats. Where would they be in this bad economy without us?

Get Involved,

Save Lives

Receive action alerts on the
campaigns you care about

Go Local

Find information relevant to you:
Your contribution today will
help us create a future with
No More Homeless Pets

Bookmark and Share

Bookmark
Send to a friend
RSS
Share/Save/Bookmark
  • Find us on:

From Best Friends...

BF Store
Double Your Impact
© 2009 Best Friends. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions