cat solution sought New Iberia

Solution sought to pack of cats in city
2TheAdvocate, Louisiana - Nov 24, 2006
By PATRICK COURREGES, Acadiana bureau


NEW IBERIA — A New Iberia city councilman says his municipal district has recently been afflicted by a fuzzy, four-footed plague of cats, and he wants to find a humane way of doing something about it.

Dan Doerle brought the issue before the City Council this week, saying that he has been dealing with a sudden upswing in calls complaining about stray cats in the district. “It’s getting out of hand,” he said.

Doerle said the increase in cat calls has spiked in the past month, compared to his previous years on the council.

He said city law requires that pets be leashed and that they not be allowed to roam freely, but that law was drafted with dogs in mind.

“I know it’s hard to keep these cats on leashes, but we need something,” Doerle said. “Maybe there’s a way we can label the cats.”

Doerle said that finding some way to identify who owns cats would help determine which are pets and which are true strays.

“We don’t want to kill the cats,” he said.

He said that the animals are causing problems by marking up cars by walking on them, digging up gardens and damaging porch screens by climbing on them.

Councilman Freddie DeCourt suggested that the city contact the local chapter of the Humane Society to find the best way to control the problem.

He said he would prefer to find a way to identify strays and put them in a no-kill shelter, rather than “sending them to a 20-day death sentence” by shipping them to the pound.

Mayor Hilda Daigre Curry said she has heard that Doerle’s district has had a cat problem, but it apparently is not one that has spread to other areas of the city.

She said she will ask the Humane Society to have someone speak at an upcoming council meeting about workable options.

City resident John Berard told the council he hopes to see the community find a solution that does not involve harming the animals.

“Maybe we could find some philanthropist to donate some property for a cat haven or something like that,” he said.