PT council to donate to fund for feral cats
McMURRAY – The feral cat population in Peters Township has increased over the past several months and township officials want rid of the squatters that have taken up residence in Peterswood Park.
About 14 to 15 feral cats now call the park home and life is getting too comfortable for the felines due in part to several humans who feed and provide housing for them, even though the township has told them to stop, said township manager Michael Silvestri.
Finally, the township said “enough.”
During a meeting Monday, township council voted to donate $1,000 to Fluffyjean Fund for Felines in exchange for the group to capture the errant cats and remove them from the park. For the donation, the cats will be spayed or neutered, inoculated and relocated to the group’s farm in Nottingham Township. The president of the fund, whose name was not released, lives in Peters Township. The donation will be made once the cats relocate.
Alternate plans to capture the cats and have them spayed or neutered at the township’s expense before releasing them back in the park were vetoed in favor of the donation and relocation.Township Manager Michael Silvestri said some of the felines were captured recently and were found to be negative for rabies.
Township officials fear, since the cats are being fed by humans, that they will approach others in the park in search of food. Removal is the only solution.
“We are trying to solve the situation as humanly as possible,” Silvestri said.
No date was given for when the cat capture will begin.