Local SPCA explains why feral cats are sometimes put down

By NEIL HORNER

Parksville/Qualicum News Reporter

Staff and volunteers at the Parksville/Qualicum SPCA take no joy in having euthanize feral cats, says shelter manager Nadine Durante.

It's something however, they sometimes have to do.

The issue of the killing of feral cats and kittens arose this week after a letter to The News detailed a resident's concern over the destruc­tion of the litter kittens she brought in.

In a letter printed Oct 6th, Nella Schmidt slammed the shelter for euthanizing the litter after five days in care.

Durante says the hard reality is that animals which cannot be adopt­ed out can't be kept at the shelter forever, and feral cats are difficult to tame to the point where they are safe to be adopted to a family.

"We simply don't have the resources to maintain feral cats in a shelter environment," she says. “Ultimately, isn’t it cruel to put a feral cat into a cage for the rest of its life, raising their stress level? The. bottom line is that the animals we adopt out have to be adoptable,"

When faced with the choice between a fluffy, purring domesti­cated cat or a cat that's scrunched up against the back of the cage, ears back and hissing, virtually everyone will pick the nice cat.

Were a potential owner to put their hand in the cage to stroke their potential pet, the decision would be even easier.

"Put your hand in there and the feral cat is going to get you good," Durante says.

If every feral cat were kept at the shelter, the facility would have to expand significantly and the cost to both the SPCA and the workload of the volunteers would be enormous.

Durante says when feral cats are brought in they are assessed to see if they change their behaviour and warm up to human contact. However, at some point a hard choice has to be made.

Commenting on the cats at issue, Durante says they failed the test.

"Each cat in the shelter is assessed on a daily basis, and these cats were not showing any improvement with their behaviour and aggression", she says. "We don't adopt out aggressive animals, so what are we going to do with them? We euthanize them. We do our best to keep those figures down and we do a very good job in this community at that. We give them an opportunity, but at some point a decision has to be made."