Posted: October 27, 2008 3 a.m. EDT
Feral cats will be removed from a Southern California rehabilitation center over the next several months. Some will be adopted out, others relocated; sick cats will be humanely euthanized. |
A colony of feral cats at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center has been tagged as a public health risk and faces removal, Los Angeles County leaders said.
The number of stray cats on the Downey, Calif., campus, is estimated at 150-200. According to county leaders, the cats could potentially pass on organisms related to human disease such as rabies, plague, endemic typhus, toxoplasmosis and cat-scratch disease; these pathogens can be transmitted via bite, scratch, fleas and exposure to fecal matter.
Representatives from the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control, or DACC, worked with a local feral cat group for more than nine months to find a solution. However, the cat population has exploded, said Aaron Nevarez, animal care control deputy for county Supervisor Don Knabe, adding that a recent inspection on the campus found five new litters of kittens.
DACC will be in charge of trapping and removing the feral cats from the campus. The cats will then be moved to the Downey Animal Shelter.
The plan began Oct. 25 and calls for 15 to 25 of the cats to be removed at a time with about a month between rounds, Nevarez said. While at the shelter, the cats will be assessed, and the adoptable cats will be made available for adoption after they are spayed or neutered and vaccinated.
For the truly feral cats, Nevarez said, efforts will be made to place them in barn stables or farms throughout the county as part of the Barn Cat program. Post cards will be distributed to farmers in search of places where these ferals can go to help control rodent problems. Sick cats will be humanely euthanized.
“What this comes down to is protecting the health and well-being of the children at the day care center and our employees at the crime and public health labs, as well as the public who routinely visit the campus,” Knabe said. “The goal is to control fleas and other problems that could pose a public health hazard, especially for children or those with weakened immune systems. This is kids over cats, plain and simple.”
Members of the public who are interested in helping one of these cats are asked to e-mail DACC.