Blakely to consider more lenient regulations for feral cats

Blakely Borough Council will vote next week on a more lenient bylaw on feral cats, allowing residents to continue feeding the animals as long as they are properly captured, neutered and returned.

With a policy more in line with towns like Archbald and Dunmore, the proposed legislation, which the council will vote on at its next meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, deems it illegal to feed feral or stray cats unless the person feeding them participates on or completed. , a trap-neuter-return program, or TNR. Under a draft ordinance, the city will reimburse residents up to $25 per cat, up to a maximum of $1,500 per year.

“Caregivers of feral and/or stray cats may continue to provide basic food, shelter, and medical care to feral and/or stray cats that have completed the Trap-Neuter-Return program during the natural lifespan of the feral and/or stray cat,” according to the regulation.

In TNR programs, the cats are trapped, spayed or neutered, vaccinated with rabies and distemper vaccinations, the tip of one of their ears removed to quickly identify that they have been treated, and then returned.

If the council passes the legislation, it will repeal any elements of Blakely’s existing feral cat ordinance, which the council adopted in December 2021, that are inconsistent with the new legislation. Specifically, the 2021 ordinance states: “It shall not be unlawful for a person participating in a Trap, Neuter and Return program specifically authorized by the Borough of Blakely or a sponsor to feed stray or feral cats.”

Jessup used Blakely’s ordinance to model its own feral cat ordinance in July, but was criticized by local animal advocates because the language — identical to Blakely’s — means residents should only feed feral cats to facilitate trapping, and not to take care of them.

Blakely decided to change the ordinance because of a pushback in people wanting to feed the cats, City Manager Chris Paone said.

“From the research we’ve seen, it will help control the population so they don’t breed all the time,” he said.

While Blakely’s 2021 ordinance included fines and penalties, Paone said the city has never fined anyone, although he has had to “send a lot of letters.”

The city spoke with animal organizations about the new ordinance and they were pleased with the design, Paone said.

“The cats are still being fed, but it is limiting the population,” he said. “If you set up these colonies and feed a certain number of cats, they don’t allow new cats into their colony, so it limits the cats that are around, and they become less aggressive once they’re spayed and neutered. , according to the information we received.”

Residents who want to feed feral cats will be required to register the colony, Paone said. The ordinance requires caretakers to be responsible for the long-term maintenance of the cats, and that all new, untreated cats must be confined and neutered.

“People who want to feed the feral cats should follow these guidelines, and they will be followed by Lackawanna County Animal Control,” Paone said. ‘They can’t just say they’re going to do it and then not do it. If you say you’re going to have a colony of feral cats, you have to capture, spay and neuter these animals, and that has to be documented.”

If it is not documented, it is illegal and residents could be fined, he said.

Violation of the new ordinance carries a $100 fine, plus an additional $500 fine for every 30 days violators are out of compliance. Municipal officials or designated representatives would then be allowed to enter the offender’s property to trap the cats. Anyone who traps the cats and releases them into the wild faces the same fines.

Joanne Davis, the founder of St. Cats and Dogs at Nay Aug Zoo, said legislation like Blakely’s proposed ordinance is the only way to deal with feral cats. St. Cats and Dogs regularly hosts TNR clinics with the Eastern PA Animal Alliance mobile clinic. It costs $50 per cat, she said.

Cities have increasingly passed ordinances similar to Blakely’s proposed legislation because “they’re finding out it’s the only answer,” she said.

“There are a lot of people who just feed and feed and feed, and all you’re going to do is create a bigger problem, so it’s important to feed and fix,” Davis said. “If you want food, that’s great, but you have to fix the cats or you’re just going to get more and more and more.”