Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Puerto Rico's famous stray cats will be removed from grounds surrounding historic fortress
The Associated Press ^ | 11/28/2023 | Dánica Coto

Posted on 11/29/2023 3:16:30 AM PST by cll

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Hundreds of stray cats that roam a historic seaside tourist area of Puerto Rico’s capital where they are considered both a delight and a nuisance will be removed over the coming year, under a plan unveiled Tuesday by the U.S. National Park Service.

The agency said it will contract an animal welfare organization to remove the 200 cats estimated to live on 75 acres surrounding a fortress at the San Juan National Historic Site that the federal agency operates in Old San Juan. If the organization fails to remove the cats within six months, the park service said it would hire a removal agency.

Cat lovers responded to the plan with dismay, but the agency noted that the felines can transmit illnesses to humans. “All visitors will benefit from the removal of a potential disease vector from the park,” the park service plan stated.

The six-month timetable to remove the cats is unrealistic, said Ana María Salicrup, secretary of the board of directors for the nonprofit group Save a Gato, which currently helps care for the cats and which hopes to be chosen to implement the plan.

(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: cats; kittyping; puertorico; puertoricocats
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-34 last
To: cll

Wow…I did not know The Stray Cats were still together. But I looked and they are. Brian Setzer is just 64. I hate to see Puerto Rico run them off though. Sad.


21 posted on 11/29/2023 4:44:16 AM PST by yukong
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Steven Tyler

San Juan historic area soon to be overrun with mice and rats.


22 posted on 11/29/2023 4:57:19 AM PST by XRdsRev (Justice for Bernell Trammell, Trump supporter, murdered in 2020)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: XRdsRev

That’s OK. They’re not known to the Biden Administration to be disease vectors. /s


23 posted on 11/29/2023 5:15:36 AM PST by gundog (It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: cll

Typical government response to something/everything. Ignore it until it becomes a problem then spend money on the wrong “solution.”
The feral cats congregated there because of a ready food source. When the number of cats became more than the food source could support. People start feeding the cats and the population continues to grow. At some point government decides the cats are a problem and decides to remove them all.

The proper course of action would be to determine the proper number of feral cats the local food source can support. Then humanely cull the cat population back to fit the food supply and keep people from feeding them.
So simple a high school drop out can figure it out.


24 posted on 11/29/2023 5:22:57 AM PST by oldvirginian (My pronouns are Your Royal Majesty and Mr Fancy Pants.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: oldvirginian

Any solution that doesn’t entail some politician and/or his family getting government money is not acceptable.


25 posted on 11/29/2023 5:31:18 AM PST by hoosierham (Freedom isnt free)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: cll
Poor Luff!

26 posted on 11/29/2023 5:54:20 AM PST by Dr. Sivana ("If you can’t say something nice . . . say the Rosary." [Red Badger])
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: hoosierham

Therein lies the problem.


27 posted on 11/29/2023 5:55:02 AM PST by shooter223 (the government should fear the citizens......not the other way around)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: hoosierham

Sad but true.
Can’t forget the graft for our elected ”public servants.”
How low we have fallen since the Founders.


28 posted on 11/29/2023 6:01:28 AM PST by oldvirginian (My pronouns are Your Royal Majesty and Mr Fancy Pants.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: cll

Brian Setzer was not available for comment. Although he was seen walking quite confidently in the opposite direction.


29 posted on 11/29/2023 6:01:57 AM PST by Vermont Lt (Don’t vote for anyone over 70 years old. Get rid of the geriatric politicians.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ex-Episcopalian
After the cats are removed, there will probably be another expensive program to control the rats.

No. The rats are in power in Puerto Rico. Why would they do such a thing?

(Oh, you meant the furry critters with tails! Never mind.)

30 posted on 11/29/2023 6:08:46 AM PST by 17th Miss Regt ( )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: cll
...The agency plan says the animal welfare organization that’s selected will be tasked with deciding whether the trapped cats will be adopted, placed in a foster home, kept in a shelter or face other options.

Hmmmm.... wondering what the "other options" might be? And for what percentage of the current population?

Stray cats can be a safety/health problem, but it sounds like there are capture/placement & spay/neuter programs already in place & are probably are a better answer (and more humane) than "removing" the cats entirely. Cats & kittens that are adoptable can be taken out of the population & the true ferals left to do their thing. I agree that there will be a mice/rat problem very quickly if all the cats are gone.

31 posted on 11/29/2023 6:59:08 AM PST by twyn1 (“An evil man will burn his own country to the ground to rule over the ashes”)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cll
Cats here, cats there,
Cats and kittens everywhere,
Hundreds of cats,
Thousands of cats,
Millions and billions and trillions of cats.

32 posted on 11/29/2023 7:41:49 AM PST by The Truth Will Make You Free
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: marktwain

“Feral cats kill many times their number in birds every year, often torturing the birds for amusement before killing the birds.”

That’s BS promoted by the fascist cat-haters at the leftist Audubon Society.


33 posted on 11/29/2023 12:38:45 PM PST by sergeantdave (AI is the next iteration of a copy and paste machine.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: oldvirginian; twyn1; Vermont Lt; cll

There are US cities with successful spay/neuter programs. City neuters the feral cats, and some neighbors agree to provide some meals. One neighborhood I have observed over 25 years had this program, and I never saw a rat. Major renovations and higher end sales began about 5 or 6 years ago, people who fed the cats moved out, the cats were no longer fed. Now they have disappeared and the rats are running wild and even entering houses.


34 posted on 11/29/2023 12:52:16 PM PST by gleeaikin ( Question authority)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-34 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson