Endangered species suit pits feral-cat crusaders against bird backers
Allowing feral cats in New York’s Jones Beach State Park is threatening the endangered birds that nest there, according to a lawsuit filed this month.
The suit claims the parks commissioner in New York is violating the Endangered Species Act by allowing the cats that prey on piping plovers, the Washington Post reports.
About 30 feral cats at Jones Beach park are fed by volunteers and sheltered in tarp and cinder block structures built by the volunteers. Cat advocates are upset by the lawsuit. “Why don’t you just take a machine gun and kill them all now?” said Marion McKenna, in an interview with CBS 2 New York. She maintains the cats are well fed and don’t need to hunt the birds.
The plaintiff, the American Bird Conservancy, counters that feeding the cats doesn’t eliminate their instinctive hunting behavior. The group wants a court to order removal of the cats.
It’s not the first case pitting cat lovers against bird advocates, according to the Post. An official with an ornithological society in Texas was charged with animal cruelty after shooting a cat in 2006 that was stalking a piping plover. The judge declared a mistrial after jurors deadlocked.
