North Brunswick, NJ, to Kill Cats

http://nbs.gmnews.com/news/2004/0429..._page/014.html

http://www.petfinder.org/shelters/NJ252.html

Don't let North Brunswick kill the Ramada cats! We currently have an emergency situation with our feral cat colony in North Brunswick. The township does not think we are doing a good enough job controlling the colony, although we have safely and humanely removed and adopted into homes 200+ cats/kittens over the last two years, with less than 30 cats still remaining (over 1/2 of them have already been spayed/neutered at our expense! We have spent over $27,000.00 to spay/neuter/vaccinate and treat the cats/kittens at no expense to the tax payers! We have been given until July 1, 2004 to remove all of the cats - after July 1st, animal control will be trapping the remaining cats and taking them to Blumig kennels where they will be destroyed! We have provided for these animals for over 8 years....they do not deserve to die!!!!! Many have socialized into wonderful pets and are very happy in their adopted homes....however, this takes times and not all cats become domesticated....but they deserve to be left alone. They are in a secluded area, are provided with housing and fed 2x a day (365 days a year!!!!) Please, help us!

The township pays time & 1/2 and sometimes double time to it's animal control officer to go out and round up animals for destruction - then another $60.00+ per cat to Blumig kennels to have them destroyed! Don't be a part of the killing!!!!! Let North Brunswick township know that you will not tolerate the killing of harmless animals and that a trap, neuter, return program is the only acceptable way to help the animals in North Brunswick- demand to be heard - be a voice for those who can't speak for themselves!

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Typical situation:

http://nbs.gmnews.com/news/2004/0513..._page/026.html



Feral cats becoming "aggressive?" Right. When has a single feral caregiver in the entire United States seen a feral cat become "aggressive?"

"Lombard said the other complaints were not documented"

If Animal Lifesavers met the population requirement and the township did not receive any complaints, the group could maintain the remaining cats on the land, according to Township Business Administrator Robert Lombard.

Because the group did not receive any complaints until April, DeHaven said Animal Lifesavers began a trap, neuter and release program so that the population left would have proper vaccinations and not have the ability to reproduce.

In April, however, Lombard said he visited the colony and gave Animal Lifesavers 90 days to remove all of the cats from the property after receiving four complaints about the colony.

Lombard said the township took the complaints on faith and could not produce any evidence that the cats that created the nuisance came from the colony.

When DeHaven submitted a request to the township under the Open Public Records Act for the names of those who complained, the Township Clerkâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s Office provided her with minutes from a Nov. 17 council meeting that reads, "Mr. Buckley — concerned over the cat population behind the Ramada Inn — cats becoming aggressive — activists are pretty strong."

Lombard said the other complaints were not documented, but as a result, Animal Lifesavers would still have to shut down the colony.

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Someone explain to me why it's possible for TNR advocates to keep perfect records of veterinary visits, receipts, animal health & costs, and colony members, but when it comes to killing animals, these guys can't even document the alleged "complaints???" You're a civil servant in business administration and you're not sophisticated enough to write something down?



Contact Information here:
http://www.northbrunswickonline.com/...s/BusAdmin.htm



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Hi Scott,

Frustrating and unfair. But, unfortunately, I think this is often the case. In thirty years, our community didn't gather a single shred of data on the numbers of feral cats it has killed or on whether it cost anything or had any effect on birds, wildlife, cats, etc. But in order for us to be able to STOP trap-and-kill, we have to present hard evidence. No, it doesn't make sense -- I sit and shake my head over it a lot. One thing is, the gathering of evidence that TNR works is pretty easy. It has an immediate effect. The evidence that trap-and-kill does not is harder to gather because when a lot of cats have been made to disappear, people don't REMEMBER that the same thing was tried two years prior, and five years before that, etc. (Short attention spans)

Has anyone here recently re-read the statistics editorials that Animal People News publishes about feral colonies and caretakers? I have been trying to absorb all that data and think of how to compare ours, as well as how to do similar surveys in our area. Clifton was able to get a nearby SPCA (which apparently is anti-TNR, or was) to help pay for and carry out some parts of the survey effort. Nifty.

Petty bureaucrats have bosses; and at some point, one of the bosses is probably elected by your vote. If you are a caretaker or you just care about animals and you voted in the most recent election, that elected official owes you at least some attention. I know nobody seems to like politics, but sometimes, it may come down to being political or being squashed! Actually, we have found our political reps to be pretty interested and open to information. But it does take time and planning in order to put the material together, get the time to present it, and follow up on it. I think, however, that it might be worth that time if it can save some cats lives.

Can someone go in and personally talk with Socio? Before too much of this gets in the papers, there is face to be saved by some of the politicians here. Sometimes a few quiet calls go further than a lot of back and forth in letters or newspaper articles. For example, probably Socio can actually look up or ask for the specifics on the complaints, and share them in his office; that's a little different from being "on record" having sent one side all sorts of information -- and it's possible that the cat detractors might use the "on record" stuff to require to be given information on the CATS and their locations -- I don't like that idea.

Does the township have a mediation program? Sometimes, these are run in a human relations, or family services organization. Mediation is an AMAZING process, and it has changed the course of quite a few conflicts. If there is a mediation option around, it's worth talking with the program to see if they can take on the issues.

When they get rid of the colony, I hope all of the excess birds poop all over the cars of the people that are responsible. Actually, I hope they get pooped on too! It's just horrible.