UPDATE 3/17: Feral Cats Win Reprieve
Updated 3/17
A group that advocates for feral cats is stepping up to the plate to help control the Chantilly cats, negating the need to euthanize them. The news from Saturday's Metro section is here.
Updated 3/11
The news from this afternoon is here.
Originally posted 3/5
According to this story from this morning's Metro section, the 200 or so feral cats that roam the streets of the Meadows trailer park in Chantilly have long been the darlings of some of the neighborhood's residents, though others find them a nuisance. Now the development's management company is getting involved; they want to trap and remove the cats and take them to the county animal shelter, where the pro-cat neighbors are worried they will be euthanized.
By Focus on Fairfax |
March 17, 2008; 8:34 AM ET
| Category:
Animals
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I cannot believe that this management company is making such a hasty decision to destroy these cats. If anyone saw the news reports, they could see that most of these cats are friendly, not "feral".
Can't anything be done to save these animals????
Posted by: 28Paws | March 12, 2008 1:12 PM
You can sign a letter to management here:
http://action.alleycat.org/c.mmL3KgN3LzH/b.806667/k.9ED9/Action_Center/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx
Unfortunately that's all I could find that can be done, short of going there and taking cats. I grew up on a farm and there were wild cats and some of the also turned into indoor cats. I think it's such a hypocrit way of thinking to say there's no way these cats could be adopted!
I also wrote to petsmart charities. They have a rescue waggin program that moves cats to areas where they don't disturb anyone.
Posted by: andrea_filkins | March 12, 2008 6:30 PM
I have a couple of comments, as a true animal lover.
1. the residents who "love" these cats have been the main cause of this problem by continuing to feed and maintain these cats, thereby supporting the population to where it is now.
2. the community is not destroying these cats (at least in all articles I have read), they are simply having them removed from the property. If animal rights people want these cats so badly, it sounds extremely hypocritical to say "don't remove them from YOUR property, and simultaneously, I don't want them at mine either".
It seems that if people have a better solution, then they should present it. Leaving the cats and their "loving owners" together within the park is apparently not an option, and the results will be worst if the park is left with no other options than to simply send them to the pound.
Posted by: devans2392 | March 13, 2008 2:21 PM
Please go to the Alley Cat Allies page and see the original memo that was posted on the leasing office door Tuesday morning. It states that the cats will be put to sleep. Also, feeding does not create the problem. Caretakers actually assist in the management of ferals by informing trap-neuter-return organizations if a cat appears that has not been neutered. These cats are healthy, TNR'd cats have had rabies vaccinations, and they do not roam far from their caretakers. Another solution needs to be found, other then killing these cats.
Posted by: Butterflygirl4 | March 13, 2008 5:53 PM
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