A cat advocacy group filed a lawsuit this week against the East Bay Regional Park District for a controversial policy allowing feral and abandoned cats to be killed or relocated to help protect endangered animal species at the district’s parks.
Alley Cat Allies, which advocates for the protection of cats and kittens, filed suit Wednesday in Alameda County Superior Court, arguing that the district’s policy is inhumane and fails to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act by changing the physical environment without a full review of the consequences.
Alley Cat Allies requested the court to vacate or suspend the policy, which East Bay Parks has not enforced since December, and issue a temporary restraining order.
Becky Robinson, president and founder of Alley Cat Allies, argued that culling or relocating feral cats would only lead to new cats moving in and the population rebounding.
“Cats are part of the environment in East Bay and are critical to the complex web of life,” Robinson said in a statement. “Cats have been part of the natural environment in California for hundreds of years and cannot realistically be removed permanently from the environment.”
A park district spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment on Friday. On June 16, district spokesman Dave Mason said the agency “could have done better regarding the removal of abandoned and feral cats that were threatening endangered wildlife at Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline last year.”
At that time, Mason also said district officials had been meeting regularly with local animal shelters since suspending the policy in December to safely rehome or relocate cats rather than killing them. According to Mason, 48 cats had been safely rehomed or relocated from park grounds as of June 16.
Park district staff members killed at least 13 cats last year at Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline without seeking non-lethal alternatives, according to Alley Cat Allies.
17 comments
At chili’s restaurant they have a few wild cats that live outside and the staff keep cat food and a water bowl near the takeout entrance. The cats are friendly and they seem pretty happy.
Well get all the names of the people filing suit over this, gather up all the feral cats from this point on and drop them in the front yards of all those people. They want em saved and protected then they can have them all.
Ummmmm, cats are not a native species.
Just adopted two kittens last week.
108RS
Just shows how difficult it is to get anything done here in California as there is always someone out there who will have issues.
Good for Alley cat allies!
I have never heard of you before but I’m going to send you a donation! Funny, most all my life I’ve been a ‘dog person’.. but five years ago when we got a cat I realize how wonderful they are. Not as simple and always loving as a dog, but can be more aloof but just as loving when you get to know them.
The reason why East Bay Parks started killing cats is because… these “cat advocates” started releasing cats in the park. Without ever asking Parks’ permission.
Now, it happens so that the parks in which they were releasing cats (in Oakland, Richmond, and Fremont) had protected habitats for endangered birds, like snowy plover.
Now, is this smart or what?
And you want to donate to them? Why would anyone want to support an “advocacy” that dumb?
And it has nothing to do with being a “cat” person or a “dog” person. It’s about having some common sense – or none at all.
Dogs > Cats. That’s the calculus of life.
That is axiomatic. It is a fundamental truth upon which other truths are built. If you do not accept this axiom, the universe will make little sense to you.
Too bad more people don’t have the same compassion for other humans as they do for animals..
And that will never change.
Animals are a million times better then most humans. It’s definitely justified.
They kill them!?!😲 That’s terrible. I remember when they only euthanized them 😼
Ha! Reminds me of the common refrain from so-called “animal lovers”: “Oh, we had to put him down”, and everyone consoles them and praises their bravery. No, you didn’t HAVE to do anything. Your dog was perfectly happy limping around and pooping everywhere. It was YOU that found his care too inconvenient. So you killed him.
Uh same diff..end result they die.
yeah
there must be red blooded americans kids armed with red rider BB guns ravaging the cats and shredding their alpha dominant domain
or are the pro dem cat people being hypocrites towards what is happening to american citizens being tossed to th streets to provide more housing for illegals
as in has anyone seen any illegals living under freeways for accosting you for money at freeways entrances and exits or traffic lights or parking structures or outside malls breaking your windows and stealing change
nope they are all cozy in their free affordable housing we pay for
the loyal dem social housing paper pushers are passing over americans and giving affordable housing away on our dime or rather our lives and our childrens and our childrens ..childrens lives
so yes this perceived cat problem is actually the reality of social services for the people ….american citizens are the cats
the government controls the media or you would see on national news
the faces of who is under the freeways and they all speak english
and the illegals flooding in are not vaccinated but no problem right
How is it possible that cats have been part of the natural environment in California for hundreds of years, when California isn’t hundreds of years old?
California became a state in 1850, and cats didn’t become a popular pet until the late 19th century.
tashaj, you are spot on. If more people would research issues and not have knee jerk reactions more people would understand the issues. I been guilty of that knee jerk reaction in the past and now have learned to look into those issues. Everyone, just food for thought. It can only make us more informed and better people.
These insane cat ladies should consider canvassing the Pine Hollow neighborhood for potential adoptive homes instead of dumping them in park lands. Somebody is always needing a new cat around there. Sure as winter turns to spring, there has ALWAYS been plenty of flat cats on Pine Hollow Rd. “Animal lovers” let their cats run free, and Pine Hollow Rd is often where they spend their ninth life. You expect to see a little incidental road kill now and again, but Pine Hollow Rd has been absolutely disgusting for decades. Gotta love those “animal lovers”.
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