GRANTS PASS, Ore.- After nearly an hour of discussion, the Grants Pass City Council votes to dismiss an ordinance that would have made it illegal to give food, water and shelter to feral cats.
The ordinance was brought to the council’s attention from the city’s Parks Advisory Committee in an attempt to limit the number of feral cats within city limits.
The ordinance proposed to make it illegal to give feral cats care unless you are a licensed animal control officer or an individual participating in an authorized Trap Neuter Return (TNR) program.
During the meeting, City Councilor Joel King brought up a University of California study with many negatives against feral cats including possible diseases, threat to bird populations and more.
But concerned citizens say there are not only bigger issues for the city to be worried about, but that this ordinance is cruel.
“If the goal is to reduce the population of uncared-for cats, this is the opposite of what you need to do,” one man from Josephine County Spay & Neuter said.
“Are we going to have our men and women in blue go out there and give tickets?” a woman asked.
“I got out 365 days of the year and take care of these animals and I can’t watch them starve to death,” another woman said.
Councilors voted seven to one to dismiss the ordinance, with King being the only one not in favor.
Council Member Rob Pell says this is one of the few times an item brought to discussion from the Parks Advisory Committee had no merit.
“This is, in my opinion, the single biggest waste of time that the council, the citizens and the staff have ever engaged in,” said Pell.
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