Hundreds of cats have walked the cobblestones of the colorful colonial neighborhood of Old San Juan for years, but a plan by the National Park Service USA seeks to put an end to its presence, despite criticism from animal activists and the risk of a plague of rats.
“We have been treating cats in Old San Juan for more than 20 years: feeding them, medicating them, taking them to the vet, deworming them and mainly sterilizing them”Lara Cartagena, spokesperson for the Save a Gato organization, told EFE.
The volunteers of this animal protection organization have also been in charge during these two decades of giving some of the felines up for adoption in Puerto Rico and other parts of the United States.
Not all the cats that populate Old San Juan are at risk of being eliminated, only those that wander through spaces dependent on the National Park Service, which alleges that they can transmit diseases to humans.
Cartagena, 56 years old, specifies that those in danger are the approximately 150 who live in Paseo del Morro and the castles of San Felipe del Morro and San Cristóbal, three historic and very touristy places in the colonial neighborhood.
Initially, the federal authorities stipulated six months, that is, until May, to remove the kittens from the place, but Save a Gato has asked that the deadline be extended until December and has demanded government financial support and equipment such as traps to capture them.
If after that period the felines continue in the area, National Parks will hire an animal control company, as it defends that “all visitors will benefit from the removal of a possible disease vector.”
Lawsuit to stop the plan
Faced with this situation, the American non-profit organization, Alley Cat Allies, located in the state of Maryland and dedicated to protecting stray cats, sued the National Park Service last week in order to stop its plan against the felines. of Old San Juan.
On its social networks, the NGO stressed that the filing of the lawsuit was for “save the cats of the San Juan community”and put an end to “cruel, useless and illegal plan” of the federal agency.
The objective is also to support a large part of the people of Puerto Rico who oppose removing cats from those places, according to Alley Cat Allies.
On the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, Paseo del Morro is a highly visited enclave in Old San Juan and there are tourists who delight in the presence of the felines, while others criticize the stench of animal urine that permeates some areas.
Regarding the National Park Service plan, Carla Colom, in charge of Paseo del Morro for Save a Gato, affirms that the measure is “ridiculous.”
“Not only is it a primary tourist attraction, but they are here for a reason and that is to control rat pests,” Explain.
Risk of a rat infestation
Colom relates that the cats were brought to Old San Juan to combat rats by the popular mayor Felisa Rincón de Gautier, who held office between 1947 and 1969.
“The rat problem was so big that they climbed buildings and came out through toilets,” says Colom, who has been coming for six years to take care of the felines along with six other volunteers three days a week.
The volunteer fears that if the cats are removed from the area, history will repeat itself and more rodents will appear. “You want to get the cats out, we get the cats out, you deal with the rats,” Colom asserts, adding that the animals cannot be controlled and that “new cats are going to arrive.”
Currently, there are five cat feeding stations on the boardwalk that will be eliminated if the plan put forward by the National Park Service goes forward.
“They all have names, we love them as if they were our children,” sentence the volunteer, who leaves “the heart” in this work that changed his life.
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Source: Gestion
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