Commentary: The city is about to get into another cat fight; and the county is going to get dragged into it as well.
For the past two years, a joint city and county task force has been working on proposed revisions to their animal codes. The task force recommendations include a proposal to return stray cats to the area where they were picked up.
Assistant City Manager David Dollahon explained at a recent City Council work session that the cats would be brought into the shelter and checked to see if there was a microchip. If there is no microchip and no way to determine an owner, the cat will be vaccinated, sterilized, microchipped and ear-tipped, and returned back into the neighborhood, but not near schools or daycare centers.
They will then be classified as community cats, which are often fed by the community, but have no owner and are always outside. Records will be kept for each cat, and nuisance cats repeatedly brought into the shelter will be euthanized.
Supporters point to a trap-neuter-and-release program at NMSU that has worked to dramatically reduce the number of feral cats on campus.
But the proposal received a chilly reception from at least two commissioners, Gabriel Vasquez and Gill Sorg. Vasquez complained that domestic cats aren’t native to the area. In fact, some come from as far away as Persia.
Before going any further, I should admit that this is one of those issues where I’ve got a duck in the race (which seems like a far more appealing metaphor than dog in the fight).
My third cat, Bonnie, would have been a candidate for a community cat if she hadn’t been so darn scrappy. I didn’t want three cats. I still think two is the right number.
But each morning and evening when I fed my two cats she would hide in the space between the dryer and the wall, then dash in through the kitchen door and take on cats three times her size. She was hungry and they weren’t, so they backed down.
She was so fearless and persistent that I had to keep her.
And, of course, I took her to the vet and got her spayed. But, the fact that she was able to get into my garage through the same hole that my other cats use to get in and out puts me and them on the wrong side of the law.
I’ve heard all of the arguments against letting cats go outside. I understand that indoor cats will live longer lives and are less susceptible to disease and injury, but the same can be said for a caged tiger. Or a person who never leaves the basement. Living longer lives doesn’t mean living better lives.
I’ve had both indoor cats and outdoor cats, and I have no doubt that outdoor cats are happier. And less neurotic. Indoor cats spend all down staring out the window at prey that every instinct in their body tells them to pounce at, but they know that they can’t. That has to mess with your head.
The issue, of course, is the neighbors. And it’s a tough one.
Living closely among neighbors means dealing with everything that goes with it, including dogs that make noise and cats that get out of the yard. But, there are reasonable limits to both of those things. We’ve got to be considerate and respectful enough to work things out as neighbors when there are problems.
Walter Rubel can be reached at wrubel@lcsun-news.com