Clay County protesters up in arms over feral cat issue

Residents speak up at Tuesday's town hall meeting

CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – At a town hall meeting in Orange Park Tuesday night, Council members and concerned residents may have moved a little closer to resolving Clay County's feral cat problem.

The topic of discussion was a controversial ban proposed by a councilman that would ban the feeding of feral cats on non-residential property.

Only a handful of people were in favor of the ban, while dozens of people spoke out against it, saying that the ban essentially starved the cats, leading to a malnourished cat problem that could possibly spread disease.

A speaker in favor of the ban said, "If you're going to feed the cats on the street, then they're not going to bother chasing rats."

Speakers eventually took to the streets to protest the ban that they said was a shame.

"The cats can't go to food banks like people can. The banks have come to them," said Terri Coburn, an animal rights activist.

Coburn described her day-to-day job as a form of meals on wheels. Like many of the protesters she cares for and offers food to the cat colonies around Clay County.

The feeding ban is just one of many cost-effective ways that Orange Park Mayor Gary Meeks said the Council is open to hearing. Last year the town received a $100,000 grant that was used for trapping and neutering but said that one thing was missing.

"I think as a Council, we all sat up here and unanimously voted to support that program with a grant from PetSmart. One thing the grant didn't provide was the manpower," Meeks said.

After an hour of Clay County residents discussing the importance of starting a trap and neuter program, dozens of people ended up volunteering to be that man power.

"The research is very clear and science, this is the best way to go about reducing the colonies in a humane manner," Fran Havey, a Clay County educator, said.

The Council will now review the community response and make a final decision when the issue reaches the agenda again.