Agency Aims to Remove Stray Cats from Puerto Rico’s Historic Fortress
The US National Park Service not too long ago introduced a plan to take away a whole lot of stray cats that wander historic Old San Juan on the island of Puerto Rico.
Local folks and vacationers think about the cats a pleasure, however some are bothered by them whereas others fear about illness.
There are about 200 cats that dwell on about 30 hectares surrounding the old fortress on the San Juan Historic Site. The U.S. federal company operates the location as a result of Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States.
The park service mentioned it’s going to pay an animal welfare organization to take away the cats. If the organization doesn’t take away the cats inside six months, the park service mentioned it’s going to have the cats eliminated.
Cat lovers are dissatisfied with the plan. However, the company mentioned that the cats can unfold illnesses to people. The plan mentioned that the elimination can be of worth to guests by lowering the potential of illness.
Stray cats eat in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)
Ana Maria Salicrup works for the nonprofit group Save a Gato. “Gato” is the Spanish phrase for “cat.” The group has helped take care of the cats for years and hopes the company will select it to do the work. However, Salicrup mentioned that the six-month time restrict is just not practical.
“Anyone who has labored with cats is aware of that’s unattainable. They are setting us up for failure,” Salicrup mentioned.
There are many alternative sorts of cats with completely different behaviors that wander alongside the fortress often called “El Morro” which was constructed within the 1500s. The fortress is by the ocean and the island’s capital, San Juan.
The cats are believed to have come from the time when Puerto Rico was a colony of Spain. But some had been dropped at the capital to kill rats within the mid-1900s by Mayor Felisa Rincon de Gautier, the primary feminine mayor elected within the Americas.
The cats have since elevated in quantity over the years. Visitors to Old San Juan usually take photos with the cats, and residents and volunteers with Save a Gato handle them. The group feeds, sterilizes, and locations them for adoption.
A stray cat rests on a statue in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)
Federal officers mentioned two years in the past that space was overpopulated with cats. The odor of waste and the habits of the cats was “inconsistent with the cultural landscape,” the company mentioned.
Last 12 months, the National Park Service provided two potentialities throughout a public assembly: take away the animals or do nothing.
Those in attendance rejected eradicating the cats. One man described the cats as “one of many wonders of Old San Juan.” The native folks have even created a statue of the cats within the historic space.
Danna Wakefield works within the photo voltaic business and moved to Puerto Rico in 2020. She visits the cats weekly. She advised the Associated Press, “These cats are distinctive to San Juan. Me and plenty of different folks love that walk due to the cats.”
In the elimination plan, the company mentioned that cat feeding areas are to be eliminated except they’re used to entice cats. It mentioned that feeding the cats is just not permitted and attracts rats. Feeding the cats additionally causes folks to go away their very own undesirable cats within the space as a result of they know their cats can be fed.
A statue of a cat stands in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022. Cats have lengthy strolled by the cobblestone streets of the historic district and are so beloved they even have their very own statue in Old San Juan. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)
The plan says that the animal welfare organization that’s chosen can be answerable for deciding whether or not the cats can be adopted, placed in a short lived home, stored in a shelter or destroyed.
The National Park Service mentioned that the six-month time restrict to entice the cats may be prolonged if progress is made. If that doesn’t occur, then the present plan would finish, and the service would pay for a elimination company.
Salicrup mentioned discovering a home for therefore many cats is troublesome. Save a Gato has talked with animal shelters on the U.S. mainland. They are unwilling to take the cats.
“The response all the time is, ‘You can not carry 100 cats right here,'” she mentioned.
I’m Faith Pirlo.
Danica Coto reported this story for the Associated Press. Faith Pirlo tailored it for VOA Learning English.
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Words in This Story
stray – adj. to explain moving into a path that’s away from a bunch or from the place the place you ought to be
wander – v. to maneuver from one place to a different with out a specific path or vacation spot
vacationer –n. a person who travels for pleasure and never for business
fortress –n. a construction for protection towards army attack
welfare – n. the state of being joyful, wholesome, or profitable; well-being
sterilize – v. to make a dwelling factor unable to provide youngsters or offspring
undertake –v. to legally take one other person’s youngster or pet as your personal
distinctive – adj. used to say that one thing or somebody is in contrast to something or anybody else
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