War on cats has led to rat issues
After reading about Monessen’s current rat problem, I felt a certain sense of vindication regarding the Monessen colony cats.
Several years ago, Mary Jo Smith, then Monessen’s mayor, declared war on the homeless felines of the city, ordering them to be trapped and killed. Protests from a variety of organizations stopped the killing. Alley Cat Allies, Valley Pet Association, Homeless Cat Management Team, and my organization, the Fluffyjean Fund for Felines, trapped, neutered, vaccinated and either returned or relocated hundreds of colony cats at our own expense. When the colony cats were living in abandoned buildings and being cared for by colony-cat caretakers, the rats were not a problem.
As the ancient Chinese realized 5,300 years ago in Yangshao Village, cats and rats do not co-exist very well together and the cat is the superior predator. While it is well-known cats kill rats, another less-known fact is rats do not frequent areas that have free-roaming cats. In other words, cats create rat-free zones. That is why the ancient Egyptians made them a deity; they protected their grain from rats and snakes.
It is not surprising the war on homeless felines in Monessen has resulted in an increase in their rat population. Now, the current mayor of Monessen, Lou Mavrakis, wants financial assistance from the state and federal government to rid Monessen of its burgeoning rat problem.
Perhaps he should heed the example of Chicago, which is enlisting colony cats in their urban rat battle. The cost to taxpayers for the cat solution is zilch, and a study I recently completed shows for every 1,000 cats that are trapped, neutered, vaccinated, returned and then fed and cared for by a caretaker, approximately $600,000 dollars of private funds goes into the local economies in the year in which this happens.
I am at a loss as to why Mavrakis thinks tax dollars should be used to address a problem Monessen created with its war on homeless felines. Perhaps Monessen would be wise to take advice from Chicago and rethink its position on colony cats.
Faith Bjalobok
McMurray
Bjalobok is an assistant professor of philosophy at Duquesne University and the founder of the Fluffyjean Fund for Felines.