FORT WORTH -- The feral cat debate moved on to its next life Monday night as City Council members authorized the code compliance director to write a policy allowing a trap-neuter-return program after nearly a year of discussions and seven public meetings.
The vote was 8-0, with Mayor Betsy Price absent.Code Compliance Director Brandon Bennett said he was unable to come up with a detailed ordinance agreeable to trap-neuter-return advocates who want less restrictive rules and neighborhood leaders who want more regulation.Now, the code department will put a policy in place -- and can change to it -- without council approval."It gives us an opportunity to give this a chance," said Bennett, who showed council members a slide again Tuesday that portrayed a cartoonlike heap of felines to illustrate the calculation that an unfixed female and male cat couple -- and their unfixed offspring -- can generate more than 11.6 million cats over nine years."If something isn't working, we can make changes to it without having to come back to council with an ordinance," Bennett told council members.The policy will be similar to the proposed ordinance. It will call for private sponsoring groups who agree to approve and monitor individual caretakers. They will trap, fix, vaccinate and return cats to their colonies, have an ear tip placed on cats' ears for identification; feed and water them; and maintain records.The volunteer organizations, which likely already manage informal TNR programs, would continue to run them at their own expense under the policy.In two changes from the proposed ordinance, the policy will leave the records in sponsors' hands and remove the potential $2,000 fine for noncompliance.Locations of cat colonies won't be public record, but the code compliance department will have access to information from sponsors if there's evidence of a problem.Some proponents of trap-neuter-return wanted the records left in private hands, to ensure that feral cats are protected from harm, citing the mysterious disappearance of one large colony from Trinity Park. They also said the proposed ordinance wasn't clear on who might get fined and under what circumstances.Bennett said the city has other nuisance rules already on the books that deal with people who feed ferals but don't move to get them fixed or vaccinated.The staff will hold another hearing to promulgate the new policy by the end of the year and will begin rolling it out Jan. 1. The council had continued the issue from earlier in the summer, when cat advocates pounced and said the staff's proposed ordinance was convoluted and would discourage participation.Bennett said a trap-neuter-return policy will make it easier for sponsors and caretakers to apply for grants that cover for their expenses. The staff has advocated a trap-neuter-return program as a way to cut the number of feral cats -- about 3,000 annually -- euthanized at the city's crowded animal shelter.Cari Alexander, a TCU librarian and co-founder of the Frogs and Cats Together trap-neuter-return program on campus, told the council that her group manages 14 cats in five colonies, down from what was burgeoning population several years ago."TNR takes time and determination," she said. "Once a population is fixed, maintenance is easier."All it takes is one [unfixed] pair to lose all the ground gained."Stacey Schumacher, executive director of the Texas Coalition for Animal Protection, a Denton-based nonprofit, said her organization is ready to sign on as a sponsor. Bennett said other large groups have indicated interest in being sponsors but may wait to see how far of a reach TCAP ends up with."We're very supportive of any program the city is going to bring forth that's going to allow people to spay, neuter or return feral cats into the community," Schumacher said in an interview.Michael Wright, co-founder of the Panther City Feral Cat Coalition, told council members that she favors a trap-neuter-return program. But she wanted records to be public and wanted a fine for noncompliance.Scott Nishimura, 817-390-7808Twitter: @JScottNishimuraHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
