POMPANO BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A group of Pompano Beach residents voiced their concerns over the euthanasia of free-roaming cats at a city commission meeting.
Residents in attendance at the Tuesday meeting said they believe there are better ways to handle the city’s stray cat problem.
Those in attendance said they are also concerned pet cats might be accidentally euthanized under the city’s policy.
That’s exactly what resident Peter Werneken said happened to his cat.
“Big Yella is what I called him,” said Werneken. “You could hold him. You could pick him up.”
Werneken said a Pompano Beach Animal Control officer put down his cat in March after a neighbor filed a complaint.
“Next day, Mike, one of the animal control guys, shows me a picture of a dead cat in a cage, and that was him,” Werneken said. “I was devastated. I was really upset.”
Werneken said his cat fell through the cracks of Pompano Beach’s animal control policy on roaming, feral or what are sometimes called community cats.
“We absolutely ignore the community cats. We don’t look for them, not after them,” said Pompano Beach Public Works Director Robert McCaughan.
The nearly 80 people in attendance at the commission meeting on Tuesday disagreed with McCaughan.
Pompano Beach is the only city that does not participate in Broward County’s “Return to the Field” policy, which allows for feral cats to be vaccinated, sterilized and returned to where they were picked up.
The goal is to both control the cat population and keep cats out of shelters.
“The options are take that to the Broward County shelter. Well, then what’s next? Well, Broward County has a policy of trap, neuter, return, and they will return that cat to your front door,” said McCaughan. “If you don’t want the cat back, we can humanely put the cat down. They sign over the cat to us, and then we euthanize the cat.”
McCaughan said they scan for a microchip and assess the cat’s behavior.
“You mean to tell me that they can assess that, a terrified animal in a trapped cage, by a stranger?” said resident Belle Laue.
Because there is no facility in Pompano Beach, a cat could be euthanized inside an animal control officer’s truck.
“What Pompano Beach is doing is antiquated,” said a resident at the meeting.
“It’s an animal being killed, and it didn’t have to happen,” added Werneken. “The way it was handled was wrong,”
City officials said they will meet with rescue groups to come up with some new ideas on how to address the residents’ concerns.
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