Posted on 07/24/2007 2:21:43 AM PDT by jsh3180
USDA veterinarian assesses feline containment
BY MANDY BOLEN
Citizen Staff
Despite speculation about her visit to the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum, veterinary behaviorist Terry Curtis is not a "kitty shrink" who will place the six-toed cats on tiny therapy couches, ask them to interpret ink blots and eventually blame their mothers.
Curtis, a veterinarian with a master's degree in psychology, is in Key West this week at the behest — and expense — of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which has been investigating the four dozen resident cats for the past three years.
Her goal, as she sees it, is to find a way to keep the popular cats on the museum property without caging them.
The USDA, acting on a complaint from a disgruntled former museum volunteer, contends the felines fall under the federal animal welfare act, and should be caged to prevent them from leaving the Hemingway property. An attorney with Horan, Wallace and Higgins who represents the Hemingway Home said the cats normally do not stray.
"We don't have a problem with cats leaving the property as long as former volunteers who live next door don't leave tuna fish on our side of the fence to lure them off the property and then take them to kitty jail," Cara Higgins said. "But if [Curtis] can give us a solution to containment, then we will cooperate."
Curtis, who has operated a feline-only veterinary practice and is also one of 42 certified veterinary behaviorists in the nation, is in town through today assessing the museum property. She is being paid as an independent contractor by the USDA, but did not know on Monday what the total charge would be for her services.
"My task here, as I see it," Curtis said, "is to look at how the facility is set up, how the cats are living now and looking to see how the facility can come into compliance with the Animal Welfare Act."
Curtis does not envision cages as the only means of containment.
"It's going to take ingenuity and flexibility," she said.
The home's designation as a National Historic Landmark prohibits some changes that would seem obvious on other properties.
"We can't change the wall surrounding the house because we'd lose our designation as a National Historic Landmark," Higgins said, hoping Curtis's will be the last of several visiting veterinarians sent to evaluate the cats.
"The federal government has been paying for a lot of really nice vacations in Key West," she said. "They're wasting taxpayers' dollars, as they've sent more than six vets to town, along with USDA investigators posing as tourists."
Curtis said she does not expect to have a report finalized before leaving town. She will return to Gainesville, and the University of Florida, to complete her report and then submit it to the USDA.
http://www.keysnews.com/
I can't reproduce it, it's copyrighted.
I posted another article about cats in the Keys yesterday, it's here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1870131/posts
That's got 225 replies.....a number that shocked me!!!
So have at it with this one,let's go for 500 replies!!
What, do cats stray from home? How shocking! Who knew?
Now that the obligatory sarcy shock is out of the way, I have to ask how straying cats can be an offense under the Animal Welfare Act? Isn’t that what cats do? How can staying true to their nature be an offense?
Unless there’s overcrowding, a cat would be an idiot to leave those grounds.
Just play the sound of an electric can opener on the PA every so often
Yours has been the most sensible recommendation I’ve read on ANY thread. You truly know cats. Electric can opener music is in their feline dreams, I’m sure of it!
stray cats....great rockabilly music group...
brian setzer and his orchestra still plays great!!!
Over to you...
Where’s the Cat Whisperer when you need him?
But if [Curtis] can give us a solution to containment, then we will cooperate.”
Contain a cat? I don’t think so.
My indoor cat has broken three screens to get outside.I started opening the windows at the top,and she ripped those as well. I have to get metal screens this weekend.
Opening cans of kitty food, music and love to the ears of cats. =^..^=
Protector of truth.
Slayer of darkness.
Loooooong.
Longcat may seem like just a regular lengthy cat, but he is, in fact, looong. For proof, observe the longpic.
It is prophesized that Longcat and his archnemesis Tacgnol will battle for supremacy on Caturday. The outcome will change the face of the world, and indeed the very fabric of lolcatdom, forever.
Be grateful that the test has chosen you, and only you, to have this title.
To see all possible results, checka dis.
| Link: The Which Lolcat Are You? Test written by GumOtaku on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test |
Ah no, it is the sound of ripping off the top of a can of Fancy Feast.
That Pop sound pulling the key, and then the riiiiiipppp of peeling the lid back.
Thunder on the horizon; approaching felines.
Here is the famous commerical about cowboys who herd cats. On YouTube, enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SmgLtg1Izw&mode=related&search=
Check your pings. LOL!
And set up some cat fountains. The vet recommended I get a dome fountain to encourage my boy cat to drink more water after a bad infection. They love it - it’s like the central cat meeting place in the house, hours spent just hangin’ round the fountain.
So this former volunteer is LURING them off the property and then complaining! Somebody needs to take this b*tch OUT!!
Not a bad idea. Dinner, a show, maybe some dancing...and when it's over she'll have better things to do than harass cats.
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