Trailer park management demands residents kill feral cats

Beginning the first of October we will begin an all out assault on all stray cats…So keep your one pet indoors…LAST WARNING…All residents can help clean up the stray cat problem by leaving a bowl of antifreeze out to poison these ever increasing problem…This stray cat problem if not eliminated will result in higher rents for all residents.

“WHITE EAGLE WOODS…LLC”

This is part of a notice sent to all residents of a trailer park in Reeds Spring, Missouri, USA.

The trailer park manager, Mark Rich denies sending out the letter. He does admit, though, that the residents of the trailer park are divided on the issue of feral cats which reflects society generally. Some people want to feed them and some want to kill them. The split in opinion has been like this for a long time but the truth is that killing feral cats is neither the solution nor is it moral behaviour. Quite rightly, some residents are up in arms about the letter. They see it as completely unacceptable.

The park manager says that Animal Control can’t really help and the Humane Society charge $40 per cat to remove them (I presume that means trap and relocate or euthanise).

The letter is fierce because it is effectively a demand to kill cats with severe consequences for those who don’t comply.

The letter must be a crime as it is a conspiracy to commit animal cruelty. It must be a violation of the state’s animal welfare laws or federal laws and if not the laws are no good.

Dead, presumed poisoned, cats have been found by the police investigating the matter. The police appear to be disinterested. We are told that they couldn’t tell what caused the cats’ deaths or prove that they were killed by someone.

However, it wouldn’t take much to do some tests on the cats to see if they were poisoned by antifreeze.

Sadly, and typically this sort of crime goes unpunished. The difficulties in properly dealing with the “feral cat problem” remain unresolved. All the focus should be on proactive, preventative measures: stopping the breeding of cats through education to improve cat ownership standards.

A person commented that they would like to know more so here it is. Initially I kept the article short because of pressure of time. USA Today News provides the information.

Specifically, the management of the trailer park requested that residents place bowls of antifreeze outside their homes to kill stray cats. One resident, Kim Pillars, said that there were dead cats everywhere because somebody put out bowls of antifreeze. Or they are shooting the cats and burning them. In the picture she holds up the letter that she received and other residents received asking her to place bowls of antifreeze outside their homes.

The news media photographer said that they saw several stray cats and they dead, burned cat on the property. Stone County Sheriff’s Office received a complaint. Deputies visited the scene as did representatives of the Humane Society.

The trailer Park manager at that time was Mark F Rich. I don’t know whether he still there. This update is being written several years later. He said that he did not send the letter. He did add that there is a dispute between the trailer Park residents and others who want dozens of cats removed while some residents feed them. Comment: this is a typical dispute between neighbours because there are those who are tenderhearted towards stray cats and those that simply want to eradicate them.

Of course, it goes without saying that poisoning stray cat is a crime in America. It doesn’t matter in which county or in which state you live. It will be a breach of animal welfare laws. I understand that in White Eagle Woods it would be at least a class A misdemeanour or if the cat is killed as a result of torture or mutilation it would be a class D felony.

Comment: therefore, the management of this trailer park are encouraging a crime and therefore they would be criminals themselves as would any residents who followed the instructions.

The note also said that: “Anyone feeding stray cats will face immediate eviction. Beginning 1 October we will begin an all-out assault on all stray cat et cetera et cetera.”

Rich said that: “We didn’t put out any letter and we are not killing any cats.” Although he did complain about the damage the cats do to the trailers and he added that it is difficult to catch them. He also complained that the county did not have effective animal control and that the Humane Society wants to charge $40 per cat to remove them.

Some residents have agreed that the stray cats can be a nuisance but they also agreed that killing them was cruel and that other means should be used to deal with them.