Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz said, “there’s no place like home. ” This is true for cats, too.
And for the colony living between Killarney’s and the Babe Ruth Baseball headquarters on Whitehorse-Mercerville Road, home will remain the same after members of Trap-Neuter-Return and Babe Ruth baseball executives met June 19, and decided to let the cats stay where they are. The colony, which had been in that location since 1997, had been in danger of being disbanded.
If the colony had been removed, the cats in it most likely would have been euthanized. Feral cats cannot be adopted because they exhibit wild behavior, and it’s impossible to predict how or if they will acclimate to indoor life, according the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
The issue began several months ago, after some complaints from residents in the area, when Babe Ruth Baseball requested the colony be removed. Babe Ruth had set up its headquarters in the building near the colony this spring. But, in June, after listening to experts who spend their days saving feral cat colonies, everyone involved in the decision-making process decided that it would be best for the cats to remain where they currently live.
“Everything is fine, and the cats can stay,” said Joyce Arciniaco, president of Joyce’s Voice For Cats and consultant to various rescue groups.
Arciniaco along with Lucinda Tucker and EASEL executive director Mark Phillips were able to come to an agreement after meeting with Babe Ruth Baseball CEO Steve Tellefsen and National Commissioner Rob Connor. Tellefsen said from the beginning that he wanted no harm to come to the cats, which was the goal of the trap-neuter-release community, as well.
Now, the focus turns to education about TNR and no-kill policies in shelters.
Arciniaco said that some animal shelters, such as Trenton’s and EASEL’s, have a no-kill policy, but not Hamilton’s.
“My mission is to get all of the communities to stop killing cats,” she said. “By having these cats neutered and spayed and released back to their natural habitats, they will live out their lives without overpopulating. The cats are also vaccinated for rabies so they are no longer a public health concern. We encourage and educate residents to spay, neuter, and return their own cats.”
TNR—the process of trapping a cat, having it examined and treated by a veterinarian and returned to its original location—is usually done by a group of volunteers. In fact, TNR advocates say trap-neuter-return is the only humane solution for feral cats that also is a positive outcome for the community.
Lucinda Tucker, president of Stray Catz, said that if more people could become educated about the process of saving animals lives, then groups like TNR would be better supported and more animals could live a long, healthy life. She is pleased, though, about the outcome of the meeting with Tellefsen and Connor.
“I am very happy that the cats can live in the only home that they have known their entire lives,” said Tucker, who has been caring for the original colony since its inception. A second colony in the same location is cared for by Linda Kerwin, and the two colonies coexist just fine.
Because of this, Tucker would like to see more and more people become educated on the lives of feral cats.
Now that the cats can stay, they will live out their lives at the only place they’ve called home. There, they will continue to be fed daily by volunteers who have cared for the cats for most—if not all—of the animals’ lives. It’s an accord all involved seem to appreciate.
“Thank you very much to the Babe Ruth League, especially Steve Tellefsen and Rob Connor, and local rescue groups, for working out a kind and humane solution to this matter,” Arciniaco said. “Thank you on behalf of the animals.”
Toby and Tiger are two of the cats living at the colony behind the new Babe Ruth Baseball headquarters on Whitehorse-Mercerville Road.,
