Help stop Los Angeles County officials from eliminating long-term managed feral colonies
UPDATE 11/18/08: The situation is deteriorating further. According to an e-mail sent from Monica Moreira of Fail-Safe for Felines, "...they started putting in post[s] in the ground and they will be raising a chain link fence around a very wide area that holds four feeding stations. Once this chain link is up, they are going to board the openings that the cats use to hide [in]. We won't be allowed in since they will put on there that it is trespassing." She is also concerned about the recent high temperatures and the cats being trapped inside with no way to escape.After eleven years of helping the cats of Rancho Los Amigos in Downey, California, feral caretakers have been locked out and instructed to stop feeding their colonies. To further complicate matters, animal control has begun trapping the cats, which are then brought to the shelter. Not surprisingly, the devoted caregivers are distraught and desperately searching for solutions to save the cats.
It all began over a decade ago, when Linda East and a friend could not help but notice the stray cats while taking walks in the area. She and her husband Dave began feeding them and discovered other compassionate individuals who were doing the same on the 164 acre campus. At that point in time they were unfamiliar with TNR (trap, neuter, and return), but over the years noticed that the number of cats was increasing, and in early 2005 connected with
Fail-Safe 4 Felines.
Since then, they claim to have spayed, neutered and returned between 125-150 ferals, as well as adopted and relocated almost 100 additional cats.
The colony was stabilizing despite people dumping friendly cats and the appearance of an occasional escapee from the
Los Angeles County Downey Shelter, located adjacent to the Rancho Los Amigos campus. Through October 2008, Linda commented, “We had estimated that at least 90% of that campus was complete [fixed].”
During that time, the volunteers worked with the County, having regular meetings. However, those discussions began to taper off and ceased entirely in July. Then in October, Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe issued a
press release citing the cats as being a “public health risk,” zip-tied the fence closed, ordered the caregivers to discontinue feeding, and Animal Control began trapping the cats.
While the County claims to have offered
resources to Fail-Safe 4 Felines, the organization’s Director, Sheranne Jaeger,
responded to their claims, citing the County’s offers of assistance included restrictions that mandated the removal of the cats, as opposed to being returned to their colonies.
Thus far, volunteers have been able to “bail out” around ten microchipped cats at a cost of $27.50 each, plus $7.50 per day. However, they have not been allowed to reclaim any of the colony’s felines who lack microchips. “It’s not that these feral cats don’t have meaning,” Linda noted. “They have meaning; they deserve to live just like anybody else. Just because they are not microchipped to Fail-Safe does not mean we weren’t caring for them and feeding them.”
The caregivers are now hard at work outside the fence, trying to capture the approximate 60-80 cats who remain in the area, before they are trapped by the County. “We’re looking at different options; adoptions, relocation, whatever we can do to save these cats’ lives,” noted Linda.
California, like much of the nation, is suffering the effects of the current financial crisis. In hard times, when every penny counts, it is difficult to believe that Los Angeles County has chosen to pay to catch, hold, and dispose of ferals in this way, when Fail-Safe volunteers have for years been reducing the number of cats in a humane way
at no cost to taxpayers.
“TNR works and these kids don’t have a voice,” noted Dave East. “We are the voice for them; they deserve to live out their lives in relative peace.”
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
1. Please watch the Fail-Safe
video on YouTube.
2. Politely contact Supervisor Don Knabe to not only inform him of the proven effectiveness of TNR programs, but to also request that they cease trapping cats immediately and allow Fail-Safe representatives to catch and remove the remaining cats. While contradictory, relocation is the only avenue that the caretakers believe will assure their safety.
Los Angeles County 4th District Supervisor Don Knabe
822 Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration
500 West Temple Street
Los Angeles, California 90012
Phone: 213-974-4444
Fax: 213-626-6941
E-mail:
dknabe@lacbos.org or ask Don Knabe a question
via an online formOr contact him through his Press Secretary, David Sommers at 213-974-1095 or
dsommers@lacbos.org 3. Fail-Safe 4 Felines is trying to generate funds to relocate the ferals to
Cat House on the Kings; however, such an effort would cost $30 per month per cat or $2,000 per cat for lifetime care. If you wish to make a
donation to their cause, please send your gift to:
Fail-Safe 4 Felines
PO Box 2279
Downey, California 90242
4. Have room in your heart and home for a companion or a safe and appropriate barn placement for a feral? Please consider
adopting from Fail-Safe.
For more information:
•
Ferals Need Your Help! Campus of Rancho Los Amigos in Downey!•
Rancho Los Amigos Cats Blog•
Best Friends Feral Cat Program Community•
Feral Cat ResourcesPosted by Jennifer Hayes, Best Friends staff
Photo credit: provided courtesy of Fail-Safe 4 Felines