PENNSYLVANIA Cat-trap groups run afoul of the law

Trapping and neutering stray cats violates state regulations, the game commission says.
HARRISBURG (AP) -- It's 3 a.m. Do you know where your cat is?
Stray and abandoned cats yowling in alleys and prowling through yards in Pennsylvania are getting more attention lately, as sides are being taken over whether community groups or municipalities should be allowed to trap, neuter, and release them in hopes of shrinking the size of cat colonies.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission and wildlife groups oppose the release of the animals, saying stray cats kill valuable native wildlife such as songbirds and rabbits, and compete with them for food sources.
Plus, the game commission notes, feral cats spread rabies. And some say it is less humane to release a stray cat into the wild than to simply destroy it.
Colonies thriving
From Hot Springs, Ariz., to the boardwalks of Atlantic City, N.J., feral cat colonies are thriving, with some shelters reporting they have been overwhelmed and are unable to place strays in homes or euthanize them quickly enough. The Humane Society of the United States estimates that six million to eight million cats and dogs enter shelters each year, and about half are adopted and the rest euthanized.
The Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group Alley Cat Allies said there are more than 8,000 individuals or groups nationwide working to trap, neuter and -- for cats too wild to be adopted -- release them back into their colonies.
In Pennsylvania, there are groups in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and nearly every medium-sized city, the group says.
Group's contention
Alley Cat Allies maintains that neutering the animals produces a more permanent population decline in a cat colony than when animal-control officers are called in to remove problem cats for adoption or euthanization. Cats that are removed will more quickly be replaced by breeding cats or another stray that joins the colony, it said.
But such practices violate Pennsylvania's criminal code and game regulations, even though enforcement may be lax, said game commission spokesman Jerry Feaser.
Fines
Each violation of the game regulation brings a $100 fine, although such a citation for releasing an animal into the wild is extremely rare, Feaser said. Under the criminal code, abandoning an animal constitutes a summary offense.
Alley cat advocates interpret the law differently. "There is no law [in Pennsylvania] that says it's illegal to do this," said Becky Robinson, the national director of Alley Cat Allies. "What's illegal is if there is abandonment."
The small central Pennsylvania town of Birdsboro began getting complaints this spring from residents about stray cats, and investigated solutions.
It settled on trapping, neutering, and releasing them as the cheapest and most humane method, said borough manager Randy Miller.
After the decision was reported by a local newspaper, a game commission warden contacted Miller.
"I thought he was coming to congratulate us on doing a fine job and here he was coming to tell us that he would cite us if we followed through," Miller said.
Miller said the municipality has since asked the game commission to reconsider, without success, and has contacted lawmakers for help.
Expected vote
An expected game commission vote Tuesday on whether to strengthen its prohibition against releasing animals into the wild is seen by alley cat advocates as a means of solidifying the agency's opposition to trap-neuter-and-release programs.