The management of local businesses (confirmed by the city’s Department of Environmental Protection, which operates the plant) in the neighborhood of Astoria, New York City, USA have decided to ban the feeding of feral cats as part of a longstanding trap-neuter-return program because the food attracts coyotes. They say that the ban on feeding the feral cat colony of 25 cats at the Bowery Bay plant near the East River is “bad ecology” and they have to comply with intructions from city and state wildlife experts.
“The coyotes pose a potential threat to our employees and members of the community, including children who use nearby baseball fields,” the Port Authority said.
The union workers and management decided that the coyotes were not a treat to workers.
Paul Santell (@Paulthecatguy) has been looking after the colony for two years under a project he calls the “Main Industrial Site”. He is the main feeder and a few workers contribute. The demand to stop feeding the cats inevitably means the cats are not eating.
Santell has been successful in his TNR program. In two years nearly all of the cats have been neuthered. Numbers have halved to 24. Several have been adopted.
Santell argues the following points:
- The cats were there first
- The industries there welcome the cats as rat catchers/deterents.
- The coyotes should be trapped and relocated. By contrast the city want to trap and kill them. This resulted in a plans for a protest by animal advocates.
- The coyotes are drawn to the area by food related businesses. Therefore banning the feeding of feral cats will not have the desired effect.
An online petition to save the feral cat colony has 1,500 signatures after one day.
To add, coyotes are very little threat to humans. They fear anything larger than themselves. Plus, humans stink to them, like it is with many animals. And, we aren’t a preferred food source, nor are cats. And, they are unable to carry away much more than 15 pounds of weight.
Well, as central Florida residents were told by wildlife officials, “Coyotes are here to stay and we must find a way to co-exist”.
Since no one can really come up with a compromising solution, the cats must suffer in this instance.
I don’t think that trapping the coyotes and relocating or killing them will work as the same vacuum effect exists for them as with feral cats. When some are taken away, others will fill the vacancies. And, officials will quickly see that it doesn’t work, especially if there are food sources in the area, ie. restaurants.
At this moment, the best move that I can fathom would be to relocate the cat colony, as hard as that is.
Shut up, Jim.
Shut up, Jim.
What are talking about W. Williams? This is a not a question of euthanasia. These cats are not suffering. They live in a managed colony. They are fed. They have derelict buildings to live in. It is not that bad. The guy looking after them is doing something far more humane and tender than killing them. He is stopping them breeding while he looks after them. That is decent behavior. That is humane and moral. Really, you are a fool. We, who endorse TNR are not weak. We are the opposite. It is much harder to do the right thing. Killing them is the easy root. The one chosen by the weak.
So all those animals have and are now suffering to death just because YOU don’t have the strength of heart to peacefully euthanize cats. Is your fear of your own deaths that great that you would deny a peaceful and painless death for another? Wow, just wow. You are all so weak, so very weak. Not one strong heart nor spine amongst any of you. Animals those animals suffer just because you are all so weak — and foolish.