Cambridge,
MD-- When Sunshine was available for adoption at Baywater Animal
Rescue, he seemed like any other orange tiger cat. Little did staff
realize the impact he would have for thousands of cats in Maryland.
Shortly after being adopted and moving to Prince George’s county,
Sunshine befriended an outside kitty with a tipped ear. (A tipped
ear is done when an outside or feral cat is neutered.) At the time,
Sunshine’s owner wasn’t looking for a second cat and let the
kitty come and go as he pleased - until she found out he could be
killed. Animal Control was able to pick up stray cats and - tipped
ear or not - kill them after a few days. This upset Sunshine so
together with his owner they decided to change the law.
After
a lot of networking and educating, Sunshine worked with Council
Member Mary Lehman who introduced a bill which was passed November
20th. Under this bill, most eartipped cats trapped by animal control
will be immediately returned to their home outdoors—not impounded
in shelters where they could be killed. All eartipped cats that end
up in the county pound would have the opportunity to be rescued by
local cat organizations. This bill will help to protect cats and
ensure that compassionate people in Prince George’s County won’t
see the eartipped cats they care for killed by animal control. Prince
George’s County Animal Control will immediately release any cat
trapped that has a tipped ear.
Baywater
Animal Rescue applaud’s Sunshine’s efforts and hopes that this is
the start of more life-saving legislation in Maryland. “Love them
or hate them, feral cats are here to stay,” said Suzette Stitely
Executive Director of Baywater Animal Rescue. “This bill protects
the cats and the people who care for them. Spaying and neutering is
the only way to solve the problem of so many feral cats.” If you
would like to get involved in feral cat rescue locally, please
contact Baywater Animal Rescue at
info@baywateranimalrescue.org
or call 410-228-3090.
2 comments:
Who is standing up for the dozens of wild creatures killed by Sunshine's feral friend each week? Baywater and their western shore counterpart may consider themselves compassionate people, but their compassion is not extended to all animals...something I find morally inconsistent. Time to stop playing favorites, or better yet, just explain how you value the life of one cat more that the hundreds of other wild animals a single feral cat will kill in his lifetime.
10:42 - REALLY? Ever heard of the Food Chain? Law of Nature? Lawd I hope you don't vote!
Post a Comment