On a recent sunny day, a cat darted across Betty Nicholas’ yard in the 1400 block of Washington while another rested under a vehicle parked in front of her home. Before long a third cat ambled across the yard heading to a neighbor’s house.
It’s a frequent scene at Nicholas’ house, and sometimes up to a dozen cats congregate in her backyard, even though she doesn’t own a single cat. Albertini said feral cats are always a difficult problem with no easy solution, but he commended a local organization, Basic Animal Rights Council, for its efforts to control the feral cat population.
Just as is the case with dogs, it is illegal in Parsons for the owner of a cat to permit it to run at large at any time. Albertini said the owner of an animal is defined as “any person who feeds or shelters any unowned animal for 24 or more consecutive hours or who professes ownership of such animal.”
Albertini said feral cats, which are untamed animals that generally have little to no human contact, don’t have owners who would be responsible for confining them. A person feeding the cats could be considered an owner, but the city would have to prove a particular person is feeding the cats on a continuous basis. Neighbors may suspect a person is feeding the cats, but proving it in court is different, Albertini said.
Besides that, Albertini said, “Does anyone really want me prosecuting a little old lady for, in her mind, being nice to feral cats by feeding them?”
(Read more: Parsons Sun)