(UNEDITED) Mahatma Gandhi once said "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it's animals are treated".
We are one of those "law breaking citizens" who decided to feed a feral cat.
She then had 4 babies on our doorstep in the middle of winter.
We immediately found them shelter in our garage ( with a heated bed) and when they were 5 months old we caught them in carriers and took the mama and her babies to be spay and neutered. They were all given their shots and we brought them back to the only home they had ever known. These were not cuddly kittens that we could place in a home but were semi-feral. During the past year they became a part of our family and have been cared for and fed well, with no possibility of over populating.
A few days ago we were approached by a neighbor who said there were cats that had "pooped" in his sand box. Now, mind you, there are at least 10-15 cats wandering our neighborhood. He then told us he would trap them and take
them to the shelter. We tried to explain to him that our cats were feral,
but had been fixed. We told him that we would go and get them from the shelter and with that he said: "Then I will kill them."
I contacted the Animal Shelter and the Ogden City Police and asked them the laws on feral cats and explained our situation. They said I need to bring my cats into them. They weren't concerned that someone threatened to kill them, only that I need to bring them to the shelter ( That for sure would be a death sentence) Amy Wicks with the city council was very helpful and I am hoping that the Council will address this ordinance and give some protection to those who are compassionate enough to help the feral cats. I feel it's important to spay and neuter them, but feel they should be released back into their colonies.
So, if you have a cat in the 900 block of Country Hills Drive make sure it doesn't wander or it will end up in the wonderful neighbor's trap. He has had the trap set up for over 5 days which we have been watching carefully,
to make sure he is not trapping any of the neighborhood cats. What a lesson
he has taught his children.
Scott and Marti Russell
Ogden
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