SACO, Maine — Police are warning residents of Saco that animal control officials will be removing feral cats from the Camp Ellis area of the city over the next week.
Police Chief Brad Paul said in a news release that he advises residents of the area who have cats who tend to go outdoors to place collars on them containing their name and address.
“The police department will provide collars to residents of Camp Ellis who do not have them,” Paul said in the release.
Cats that are verified as feral will be taken to the Animal Welfare Society shelter in Kennebunk, where they will be placed for adoption, according to the release.
Saco’s Animal Welfare Society informed police Wednesday that they are working in conjunction with a Portland organization to place feral cats in homes once they are taken to the Kennebunk shelter. The society is willing to shelter the animals until homes can be found for them.
It always amazes and disturbs me that communities with an overpopulation of feral or abandoned cats will spend the money to “remove” them, in which case many if not most will be euthanized, instead of contributing to the efforts of those who work tirelessly to catch, neuter/spay and release the animals.
Luckily I live in a rural community where such things are not considered as any kind of a real issue. In fact the larger cat colonies are reluctantly welcome as they are alleged to keep snakes at bay. (I live in TX) When I moved here I inherited a cat colony that was sickly and wild; they came with the property. Over the last several years we have worked very hard and with very limited resources to spay and neuter as many as we can. We also vaccinate as many as we can catch, at least for the most common cat diseases, and we feed them natural additives to keep fleas and internal parasites away. Our colony’s numbers have stabilized, the remaining cats are healthy. And as the age of the remaining animals advances eventually the numbers will go down. At least they will if people will stop throwing their unwanted pets over my fence.
Now, if we could just get other people to be responsible for their own pets none of us, those who find the cats a worry and those of us who try to help, would have any problems. The cats would all be happy, healthy and in loving homes, not being a nuisance. And those of us who care for the throw-aways would have lots of time and money left to use in other endeavors.
Have your pets spayed and neutered please. Most areas have low cost programs so there is not much of an excuse not to do so. Do not allow your pets to run at large, cats or dogs. It is not safe for them and can be dangerous to other people as well. The “problem” of feral cats and free roaming dogs falls squarely on the shoulders of those who do not want to be bothered to care intelligently and compassionately for their animals.
BTW, capturing and moving the animals cited in this story is only a temporary fix, within a year or two the problem will have returned as more animals are abandoned and allowed to breed unabated.
Kudos to you for all your efforts!
This is sad. Feral cats require an incredible amount of hard work and patience before they’re adoptable — often shelters simply aren’t able to put in as much as is needed. Hope there are some dedicated cat lovers in the area who are willing to foster them!
Is that a new place area for people to drop off their unwanted cats for there to be so many? That is sad .
The population grew steadily over the last few years because people were feeding them. Leaving bowls of food and water out for the “poor kitties” led to more and more “poor kitties.”
Kind of like generations on welfare…..
“Its allowed to shoot your own animal…and send it to the next world…”
-Judge in Newport District Court
I’m really going to miss those cats. It was always kind of cool watching them down at the Camp Ellis dock, looking for a fishy snack. Too bad that people always have to make a big deal about at least one thing in their community…oh well, I guess we all need something to live for.
really? they can’t find homes for all the domesticated cats, but they can place a bunch of ferals? i’m not buying it.