Trapping cats by the pale moonlight

Trapping cats by the pale moonlight

 
It's hard to see them, but those little black spots under the street lamp are some of the many feral cats living in AD Doug Barnes Park. 

Last night I met up with a group of trappers and cat lovers to try and trap another round of park cats that will be put up for adoption this weekend. According to Florida law it is illegal to have cats living in public parks (not sure how they ever expected that to be enforced though...), so with a pending lawsuit in the works the park employees are now having to remove the cats. MDAS and the Cat Network have joined the crusade, and are offering free medical services for each cat in exchange for people opening their homes. Most of them will have to be outdoor cats, either acclimating them to a current colony or starting a new one (this is mostly for people with large properties, ideally with a barn... and yes, that is a thing in South Florida). A select few are tame enough to be house pets, thanks to their caring feeders over the years!!

While we've caught around 30-40 cats already, there are still a lot more to go so this project will last a bit longer than originally planned. The biggest problem is that the area is overrun with raccoons, and as soon as you put out a trap you've caught one of the furry bandits!! I think last night I saw and trapped more raccoons in an hour than I've ever seen in my entire life... they were everywhere! They also have no fear of people at all, and would try to climb inside cars to get to the food, would walk right up to you and grab things from you... just downright wanted to eat whatever you had and they weren't going to let a silly human stop them from achieving their goal.

Saturday and Sunday will be the adoption event, which hopefully will be met with a great response from the public. Volunteers are needed to help man the events, and next week more trappers will be needed as well. Information about the event and ways to help is below. 

 

BE A HERO FOR ABANDONED CATS THAT NEED A LOVING HOME! All of the cats at A.D. Barnes Park need to be removed from the park. Don't miss a very special adoption event at the park on 1/21 and 1/22 that will gives these cats a second chance. Could you adopt one of these cats for free and take them into your home, and love them as part of your family? MDAS is providing free FeLV and FIV testing, microchipping, deworming, and topical flea treatment for each adopted cat. Each cat has also been spayed/neutered courtesy of The Cat Network. TURN AN ABANDONED CAT INTO A LOVED PET FOR FREE. Please help spread the word!