May 28, 2007

West Elizabeth Borough Council
800 Fourth Street
West Elizabeth, PA 15088

Attention: Ms. Louise Biddle, Members of the Council of West Elizabeth

Dear Council Members:

I am writing to you on behalf of Voices for Animals of Western Pennsylvania and its over 600 members in the Greater Pittsburgh area. Our organization is extremely troubled by your recent decision to contract out the capturing and killing of cats trapped within the Borough of West Elizabeth. This decision caused much consternation among residents of the Borough and the surrounding area after an article appeared in the McKeesport Daily News, and we have received a large number of phone calls and emails on the subject.

It is apparent that there are three important issues to contemplate:

1. whether or not the mass killing of stray and free-roaming cats is a viable long-term solution for managing their population, and therefore whether a more humane and more ethically-sound method of population control can be found.


2. the likely chance of beloved family cats being picked up and gassed by 4 pm the same day, simply because their guardians either did not realize their animal was absent or did not have the time or ability to travel to McKeesport by 4 pm the same day. One can only imagine the heartache that is inevitably going to result from this. Microchipping is not a guarantee that an animal will not be picked up – chips can migrate within the cat’s body and become untraceable. Nor are collars: the “break-off” collars recommended for cats, to avoid strangulation, can easily be pulled off at the “break” point, something many cat guardians can attest to.

3. whether the Borough of West Elizabeth should be working with a company like Ferree Kennels, which in the last few months alone has already lost its contracts with McKeesport and Forward Township due to concerns about his animal welfare standards and his professionalism.


We are therefore writing to request two things:

o an opportunity to officially present to you the alternative methods of stray cat management available, with the assistance of other animal advocacy organizations with hands-on experience in this field, and to ask you to listen to and consider the opinions of concerned citizens on this matter. We can present you with documentation, suggestions and case studies wherein towns facing similar problems have instigated a humane no-kill program for stray and feral cats.

o an immediate termination of the Borough’s contract with Mr Ken Ferree, and a moratorium on the trap and kill protocols, regardless of the company involved in their implementation.

We believe this is an opportunity for West Elizabeth to adopt an effective, long-term and humane plan for managing its stray and free-roaming cat population, and to set an example in this respect to many of the surrounding communities. In the meantime, we are enclosing for your information a number of articles and studies on the subject. We can be reached at voicesforanimals@gmail.com or at 1-877-321-4VFA, if you wish to speak to us about this matter. We hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,


Lindsay Zurosky, Coordinator


c.c. Bill Wolfgang, Code Enforcement Officer