MOUNT OLIVE -- It's not property taxes, public pension costs or road problems that have residents here riled up, it's cats — the fate of feral and stray cats.
BY MEGHAN VAN DYK • STAFF WRITER
After months of debate, the council is set to introduce a trap-neuter-return program ordinance and vote Aug. 4, with a public hearing to be scheduled later. The proposed law would require feral cat colony caretakers to have each cat micro-chipped and obtain a $25 colony license, officials said. It also reduces the abatement period the TNR group would have to resolve nuisance complaints lodged by residents.
Officials this week said this is a compromise that would establish a permanent TNR program in which feral cat colonies would be managed by caretakers. The volunteers would be responsible for feeding the cats and ensuring all are vaccinated for rabies and spayed or neutered.
"This issue has been complicated by a lack of communication," said Mayor David Scapicchio, who organized a Thursday night with council members, the health department and the Mount Olive TNR Project, a sub-project of the New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance's Project TNR. "But we brought the right people to the table and have agreed to move forward."
The proposed law follows a Budd Lake resident's proposal to establish a feline trap-neuter-return program that gained the support of residents who signed petitions, created a nonprofit group and turned up at both township council and board of health meetings in large numbers.
The law comes about after an eight-month-long debate that included the board of health rejecting a pilot TNR project. Previously, officials had said the township's policy of trapping and holding cats for seven days before they were euthanized worked just fine.
If the ordinance is adopted, Michelle Lerner, who has been behind the TNR push, said the petitioners behind a November ballot initiative would withdraw their request. More than 780 signatures were collected — of which the clerk certified the required 463.
"We have always wanted to work with the town," Lerner said.
The council heard two hours of testimony for and against TNR at its July 21 meeting. The hearing trumped other issues, such as the adoption of the township's $27.2 million budget and a $10,000 raise for the director of public works. More than 60 people attended, many wearing T-shirts depicting one resident's pet, TC, a kitten adopted from a feral colony.
Proponents say TNR will proactively and humanely reduce the number of feral cats in Mount Olive in contrast with the township's current process — the animal control officer can only trap cats in response to a specific complaint.
It also would save money, they say, by reducing the number of hours the ACO spends on complaints in addition to the veterinarian bill for cat euthanasia.
"Most of the people who see cats (don't call the ACO) because they don't want to see them harmed," resident Michelle Dialfonso said. "TNR would stop all ferals from having babies whereas going after (just a few) does nothing."
Both health officer Frank Wilpert and Willie Cirone, ACO, said they believe TNR would not work and expressed worry that the cat colonies would become a "dumping ground for unwanted cats."
"The good intentions of individuals, though admirable, often lead to unforseen problems," Wilpert said. "Feral cats have no true ecological niche in the wild."
Peter King, an attorney for the board of health, said the board would not legally be required to recognize TNR because the proposed ordinance violates state law and would put "a nongovernmental third-party radical animal rights group" in charge of animal control.
"These are cat activists," King said. "I urge you (the council) to look at who you trust — (them) or the volunteer members of the board of health."
Scapicchio later said the attorneys of the board of health and township have a "difference of legal opinion."
The council's next meeting will be held Aug. 4 at the municipal building on Flanders-Drakestown Road at 7:30 p.m.
