From this morning's Herald,
Harbourville’s feral cats disappear
Local rescue group had planned to deal with colony humanely
By PATRICIA BROOKS ARENBURG Staff Reporter Tue. Apr 14 - 5:38 AM
( pbrooks@herald.ca)The furry feral felines in Harbourville, Kings County, have disappeared, leading some to believe they’ve met with foul play.
"There’s no confirmation, but it looks like some people may have taken steps into their own hands and, unfortunately, wiped out the colony," SPCA spokesman Sean Kelly said Monday.
On Friday, The Chronicle Herald published a story about the possible rescue of the 12 to 30 cats living in the colony just north of Berwick.
The cats’ habits raised the hackles of local fishermen, who complained for the last two years about the felines’ fondness for fish remains and garbage on the boats and around the wharves.
A local animal rescue group wanted to trap, neuter and release the healthy animals as a humane way to control the colony and eventually wipe it out.
The provincial SPCA even sent a letter in support of the program last week to Kings County councillors and the animals got a reprieve from death row, Mr. Kelly said.
But over the weekend, the cats vanished.
"There have been a few people out looking around for the animals and, unfortunately, they haven’t seen any," Mr. Kelly said. "There’s no carcasses or anything along those lines, so . . . without making any false accusations, we don’t know what happened. The animals were there a couple days ago and now the animals are gone."
There was a report that volunteers with the Homeless Animal Rescue Team found one carcass Saturday, but group president Laurie Wheeler could not be reached Monday to confirm that information.
A local woman who feeds the cats regularly also could not be reached Monday.
Mr. Kelly, who heard that one person spotted a small animal trap in the back of a truck belonging to an unidentified fisherman, said the SPCA hasn’t officially ruled out the possibility that someone may have rounded up the cats.
But that would be a "huge undertaking," and it would typically take a couple of weeks to perform such a feat.
"It is possible that somebody went out there and trapped all the cats; it’s just not probable," Mr. Kelly said.
"They would have to use some other means (to remove the colony) and I shudder to think what means they would use."
Belle Darris, president of the Kings County SPCA, has no idea what happened to the cats and said: "I can’t see animal control getting involved over the weekend, as they had been told to stop until everything was decided."
The plan to trap, neuter and release the animals "could’ve been a viable solution" to the feral cat problem in the area, Ms. Darris said, and every grant proposal her group has submitted to council has included a trap-neuter-release program.
She hopes the SPCA and the municipality will continue to work together to provide this program in the future.
The Kings County branch is prepared to assist the provincial office in its investigation, Ms. Darris said.
The Nova Scotia SPCA, which is mandated to investigate animal abuse, has heard a lot of rumours about who might have done what to the colony.
"They’re just rumours and I certainly wouldn’t act on any bad rumours — that’s how bad relationships develop," Mr. Kelly said.
"But we will certainly be investigating those rumours to ensure that, if those rumours are correct, we will act on them and we will act on them in a very severe manner
If there is any upside to this whole sad story is that it has highlighted some of the best changes that have happened with both the provincial society and the Kings County Branch. This time last year, there would not have been any effort made by either to improve the lot of feral and stray cats.
Anyone acquainted with TNR can tell you that removing the Harbourville cats has created a vacuum that will continue to be filled.... so there will be another chance for the residents of Harbourville to pick a more humane path.
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