"USA Today" Features Protest Effort
Read the follow up to the Feral Cat demonstration at USA Today by
clicking hereUPDATEby Bryan Kortis, Neighborhood Catsheadcat@neighborhoodcats.org
212-662-5761
(New York, Nov. 19, 2007) On Thursday, Nov. 15, a coalition of animal groups and concerned activists demonstrated for the second time in front of Port Authority of NY and NJ's headquarters in Manhattan. Despite the cold and rain, a large crowd gathered to loudly protest the Port Authority's ongoing efforts to exterminate all feral cats on the grounds of JFK Airport. Later the same day, Valerie Sicignano of In Defense of Animals and the NYC Feral Cat Initiative, and Bryan Kortis of Neighborhood Cats addressed the agency's Board of Commissioners, criticizing the eradication program and the lies and misrepresentations offered by the agency to justify the killing. They demanded (1) a permanent halt to the trapping, (2) a lifting of the feeding ban, and (3) implementation of a one-year pilot Trap-Neuter-Return program.
Meanwhile, the extermination effort appears to have stalled with no new cats having been surrendered to the local animal control shelter since November 7. All 24 victims of the trapping so far have been saved by local groups working with the NYC Feral Cat Initiative, a program of the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals.
The protest effort and the as yet unsuccessful extermination program were featured today in a page 3 article in USA Today (See
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-11-18-cats_N.htm)
The article reports that Port Authority has "suspended" the trapping and is trying to work with animal groups to find an acceptable solution. However, the Port Authority has not stated it will permanently discontinue the effort and has not agreed to a Trap-Neuter-Return program. "The public needs to know nothing has been resolved," said Bryan Kortis, Neighborhood Cats. "The threat to fire any airport worker who feeds the cats remains in place, and the cruel attempt to trap and kill these cats could resume at any time. The community's outrage has slowed their campaign, but not yet stopped it once and for all. We're not letting up until this is a done deal."
WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW*Write a Letter to the Editor of USA Today thanking them for the article and supporting Trap-Neuter-Return at JFK. You can write to "letters@usatoday.com" and include name, phone number, city and state for verification. Or else use the online form at:
http://feedbackforms.usatoday.com/marketing/feedback/feedback-online.aspx?type=18Letter from Michael Mountain to USA Today. Read what the President of Best Friends Animal Society has to say:Whenever our fellow animals seem to be getting in the way of humans, the first solution is almost always to kill them. And the onus is placed on animal protection groups to come up with an alternative that will be considered acceptable to the killing lobby.
Twenty years ago, 17 million homeless pets were being destroyed each year in shelters all across the nation. This was justified as being a "necessary evil", as if there were no options. But today, fewer than 4 million are killed each year, thanks to the growth of the no-kill movement and the new emphasis on spay/neuter for cats and dogs. It will be sad if the JFK cats are among the 4 million put down this year, because killing is never the answer. It’s morally bankrupt and it doesn’t work; it simply opens the door to more killing.
The cats at JFK pose no danger to human health or safety. Nor did they get there by choice. They are our responsibility, and there are people who are ready, willing and able to look after them. So we need to invert our priorities: Destroying them should not be a first option; it should not even be a final option. Only when we take it off the table altogether -- whether in relation to a few cats at an airport, to homeless animals everywhere, or indeed to other living creatures for whatever reason -- will we humans be able to live at peace with ourselves and each other.*Post comments in the USA Today blog using the form at the bottom of the page where the article is posted online:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-11-18-cats_N.htm*Keep sending those phone calls and emails! Take a few minutes each day and make a phone call or send an email to one or more of the names listed on the home page of Neighborhood Cats (www.neighborhoodcats.org ). What matters now as much as what you say is that you're still saying it - remember, they thought we'd all go away after a day or two. It's been three weeks now and the publicity and protest is only growing - they are being forced to deal with this because YOU are making them. So don't feel like what you're doing is repetitious and unimportant - it's vital and the more they hear from you, the better our chances to save these cats. Try to leave the words "JFK" and "cats" out of the emails so they can't be automatically blocked.
We're making progress, but not home yet!! THANK YOU!!!
Photo courtesy of http://www.neighborhoodcats.org