According to an article in yesterday’ Reading Eagle, the chairman of the Reading Animal Control Board, Barry Pease, wants to make any resident of the city of Reading who is feeding any feral cats the “manager” of those cats.
This latest development deals with the new pet ownership ordinance proposed by the Reading Animal Control board that would limit the number of pets residents are allowed to have. If residents exceed the limit, fees would be imposed excluding fish over six months old or exotic pets such as snakes.
What I find most interesting is that they want to make anyone who feeds feral cats their managers and would also have to pay a fee, I’m assuming, if they exceed the six pet limit. WHAT??
The problem lies with what a feral cat is. Does Pease comprehend what constitutes a feral cat? Feral cats are wild offspring of domestic cats and primarily the result of pet owners who abandon their cats or they fail to spay or neuter their cats. This failure leads to the feral cats breeding uncontrollably.
Feral cats are also elusive and don’t trust humans. They are wild animals.
So according to Pease, any city resident who feeds feral cats, which by the way, they live in colonies where new cats appear on a regular basis due to the stupidity, carelessness and laziness of people, they will now be considered “their manager”. Someone explain to me what a “manager” of feral cats is? Plus, one never knows how many cats are in feral colony at any given time.
So if I lived in Reading and I fed feral cats who are not indoor cats and not my own pets, I am responsible for them and have to pay a fee. That is totally absurd and outrageous.
Thankfully I do not live in the city of Reading. However, my husband and I feed wild birds in our backyard on a regular basis. We have been helping to feed the father of baby bluebirds since the mom literally “flew the coop”. Those babies need food to survive and the dad has looked to us to help him. So far, so good. Will the residents of Reading have to pay a fee to feed wildbirds as well?
What if I fed chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits and so on? Will I have to pay a fee then? These are all WILD animals. They are not domesticated just like feral cats.
To pay to be the manager of feral cats is ludicrous. They are wild animals through no fault of their own. They are the same as any other wild animal.
Furthermore, who is the benefactor of these permit fees which range anywhere from $50.00 to $125.00. Pease is also the board president of the Animal Rescue League. To me, there seems to be a conflict of interest by allowing him to create ordinances that the ARL can directly benefit monetarily if they are indeed the recipient of those fees. I do not have confirmation on that but I do have to wonder.
Your thoughts on this ordinance. Do you think city residents need to pay permit fees because they feed feral cats?