WASHINGTON (CN) — A group of activists sued the National Park Service on Wednesday over a new program that seeks to remove stray cats from federal parks in and around Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Nonprofit Alley Cat Allies Inc. filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, claiming the federal agency wrongfully ended a humane “Trap-Neuter-Return” program despite the cats posing no harm and their revered status in the community.
“Despite these facts, the NPS has arbitrarily decided to pursue an unattainable, unnecessary and inhumane goal: the complete eradication of cats within the Paseo [Del Morro National Recreational Trail],” Alley Cat Allies say in the complaint.
According to the activists, the park service arbitrarily ended the program and has instead shifted to a phased approach that will include trapping and removal efforts by an animal welfare organization (or, if necessary, a removal agency), removal of all feeding stations, and euthanizing any removed cats deemed unsuitable for adoption and cannot fit in shelters with limited space.
In a footnote, the organization makes the distinction that euthanasia is normally reserved for cats suffering from terminal illnesses or untreatable injuries — the park service’s plan would “kill, not euthanize” healthy cats as well.
The agency announced the plan this past November, with the goal of removing approximately 200 stray cats living on 75 acres surrounding a 16th-century fortress known as “El Morro” at the San Juan National Historic Site the feds operate.
If an animal welfare organization is unable to remove the cats within six months of the start of the program, the park service would hire a removal agency to finish the job.
The activists have received no word as to when that six-month window will begin, nor has the park service announced publicly when the program is set to start. The agency did not respond to a request for comment.
“All visitors will benefit from a potential disease vector from the park,” the park service said in a press release announcing the plan.
The cats have a long history on the island, with some residents viewing them as descendants of colonial-era cats brought by the Spanish. Others attribute San Juan Mayor Felisa Rincón de Gautier, who brought them to the capital as rat-catchers in the mid-20th century.
The group says the park service’s justification for the sudden policy change is flimsy, at best.
Since announcing the plan, the agency has offered no evidence that the cats pose any danger to humans, native species or wildlife, seems to exaggerate the nuisance caused by the cats and has not explained why the change is necessary after two decades of the trap-neuter-release program, the plaintiff says.
Further, the group says the plan would still not get rid of the cats along Paseo Del Morro, as there is a well-established community of cats living in the surrounding area and cats will continue to be abandoned. Without the trap-neuter-release program, any new cats introduced to the streets will no longer receive the vaccinations and veterinary care that cats have received to this point.
The activists accuse the park service of violating the National Environmental Protection Act by failing to properly consider alternative methods. "Instead, they arrived at a ‘solution’ that will result in the needless killing of potentially hundreds of healthy cats," the group says in its complaint.
One particular issue the group notes is that the park service only holds jurisdiction over Paseo Del Morro, while Old San Juan is home to thousands of community cats and a persistent cat-abandonment issue. Even if the agency is able to remove the 200 or so stray cats, they will likely be replaced by cats — many of whom will not be spayed, neutered or vaccinated — from the surrounding areas, making the effort moot, they say.
“The population will thus quickly rebound or even surpass the number of cats currently on federal lands,” the group says. “And because [trap-neuter-release] will be discontinued in favor of eradication, there will be no recourse against an endless cycle of removal and killing.”
The activists want a federal judge to declare the agency’s new plan unlawful, enjoin the agency from removing and killing cats from the Paseo and require the agency to conduct an environmental assessment regarding the impact of the cats’ and the ceasing of the trap-neuter-release program.
Ideally, the activists say, the trap-neuter-release program should remain in place, rather than replace it with a cruel and unnecessary plan.
Addy Schmitt, attorney with firm Harris St. Laurent, represents the group.
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