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Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, South Orange County, Long Beach Area

Feral Cats Hired For Rodent Patrol

    Each year, thousands of unwanted cats are euthanized in animal shelters to help control their population. Many of these cats are fine animals but the problem has always been that there aren’t enough people willing to adopt them.

    One way to save the lives of these felines is the “Working Cats Program” of Los Angeles. The program was created by Melya Kaplan in 1999 and it is a green program that relocates sterilized and vaccinated feral cats to residences or businesses with large rat populations.got-mice-i-cans-helps-yous-thumb

    The program’s organizers tell us that cats don’t normally eat rats. Instead, they claim that the rodents are simply repelled by the cats’ odor, and leave the site.

    This program was first implemented in 1999, at the Flower Mart in downtown Los Angeles. The Flower Mart had a large rat problem and traditional rodent control programs were unable to solve the problem. Ms Kaplan brought in sterilized feral cats and the rat problem was solved.

    The program’s administrators get cats from the shelter that are deemed feral (unsocialized), and that are going to be euthanized because they’re not adoptable. These cats are sterilized, micro chipped and vaccinated before being put on duty.

    To acclimate the cats to their new home, they are kept in large holding cages for a minimum of three weeks so they can become accustomed with the sights, smells and sounds of their new location. After that, the cats are released into their territory where they will remain. The new owners of the cats are required to provide them with food and fresh water.

    This program has been successfully implemented at the Crossroads School Campus, the Los Angeles Police Department (Wilshire, Foothill and Southeast Divisions), the Self Realization Lake Shrine in the Pacific Palisades, and various residences and small businesses.

    Have you been to Disneyland, lately? Feral cats patrol the park and it is a partnership that may go back to the days of Walt Disney. Some say that Walt first discovered scores of cats in Sleeping Beauty’s Castle and he refused to let them be killed. Currently, Disneyland has five feeding stations set up for their cats.

    If you have a lot of rodents running around the outside of your home or business, adopting a feral cat may be a good idea. The Humane Society always recommends you have feral cats spayed or neutered to help keep our cat population manageable. Have your cat vaccinated, keep it well fed and you may have the solution to your rodent problem that you’ve been looking for.13371174881246252784Cat with Mouse.svg.med