ULSTER COUNTY FACEOFF OVER FELINES
Opponents of cat-trapping legislation outnumber supporters at hearing
“All we’re asking is that people know when somebody is coming in to trap their cats.” — Gina Carbonari, executive director, Ulster County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
KINGSTON, N.Y. » Opponents of the trap-neuter-release practice of managing feral cat populations outnumbered supporters during a public hearing Wednesday designed to help Ulster County Executive Michael Hein decide whether to allow or veto legislation that would require cat trappers to give notification before setting up traps.
More than two dozen people turned out for the hearing at the County Office Building, and 14 of them spoke. Ten of those who spoke opposed the legislation; four said they supported the measure.
The legislation, adopted by the county Legislature last month in a 13-10 vote, would require organizations, groups or individuals who intend to trap cats to notify the community of their plans five days before the date of the operation.
The law also would require trappers to include in their no-
tice how people can contact the trappers in the event their own cat is caught.
Tillson resident Liz Wassell said the law would “protect owned cats that live in
and outdoors” and would provide a “humane pathway” for cats caught up in a trapping operation to be reunited with their owners.
Kingston resident Jean Jacobs said the law would protect feral, abandoned and stray cats, as well as family pets, from being “abducted, trapped and euthanized.”
Gina Carbonari, executive director of the Ulster County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said the law is “simply about being neighborly.”
“All we’re asking is that people know when somebody is coming in to trap their cats,” she said.
But opponents called the law “poorly thought out” and said it would lead to more cats being maimed, poisoned or left to suffer and die.
“The proposal does nothing to protect cats,” said Sue McDonough, a Rensselaer County resident and member of the group Responsible
Animal Care USA.
McDonough, who said she investigated animal cruelty claims for 30 years as a state employee, said she has little compassion for people who lose cats they allow to roam freely.
“People who allow their cats to run outside then lose them have no one to blame
but themselves,” she said.
Many of those opposed to the law called for the county instead to adopt legislation requiring cat owners to have their pets licensed, as dogs are.
Hein must decide before the end of the month whether to let the legislation stand or to veto it.