KILLEEN, Texas — The Killeen City Council will soon take action on a proposed revised animal ordinance, specifically in regard to aggressive dogs, wild animals and a lot about feral cats.
The ordinance the city is looking at would change the term "feral cats" to "community cats." It would prohibit cat colonies within half a mile of a school, church or playground.
Over the last couple months there has been discussion about limiting the number of cats in a residential colony to six cats at any given time. That is one of the changes the city recommends the city council approve as it would address nuisance concerns they say are frequently received in residential areas.
"We've got an issue we're trying to address," said Danielle Singh, the city's assistant city manager. "From our perspective, we think this is the best way to address it."
There is a group who attended the city council workshop on March 4 that disagrees with Singh's proposal. They're the ones who are taking care of the feral cats.
Gudrun Dates is a feral cat colony caretaker in Killeen. She doesn't want her services to be limited and wants to protect the cats at all costs the way she has done for years.
"It doesn't quite make sense putting a limit in the colony because you cannot control a colony," she explained.
Out of her love for animals, she spays and neuters the felines and also gives them plenty of vaccines to keep them healthy for themselves and the community. She said the proposed ordinance makes her angry and will cause more damage for the city.
"If you have an excess of cats, the city will trap them and will put them down and I think that's very bad for us," Dates added. "I think we need to come to some kind of conclusion where we can control what's going on."
Dates, along with Linda Marzi want to work with the city to find a solution that works for everyone. But as Marzi said, she doesn't think everyone has a total understanding of what feral cats are, or their needs.
"Colony cats live outside, and you will not see the same kitties every day because even if they're spayed, neutered -- they still travel," she explained.
Marzi was on the city's Animal Advisory Committee for a long time before she quit. She said the city's ordinance is going to cause more damage to Killeen, the citizens and the cats.
"The project they want to do by limiting a cat colony to six cats will just release more, more and more feral kittens that are born because they won't have Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR). They won't be spayed, neutered," she said.
Both Marzi and Dates are fighting for feral rights. They want people to find resources to take care of the felines if they don't want them around, like shelters or rescue groups. However, they are standing up against minimizing cat colonies.
"There needs to be as many kitties in a colony as the caregiver feels comfortable and knows for sure they can take care of those colony kitties," Marzi said.
"I want people to make sure that we all chip in and not make a big hassle of it," Dates added. "You can't take anything away from the animals. Make sure they stay alive and work with the city. The city should work with us because we spend a whole bunch of money to take proper care of the animals."
Singh said the City Council will have the final say about the ordinance which they could take action on this as early as April 11. She told the council chambers that she believes regulations and seizing of cats could happen as soon as the ordinance is passed, but it would mainly be in residential areas.
"I've never heard a single complaint on our commercial colonies, that just doesn't happen," said Singh. "It's where they're in residential areas, on those small lots, densely populated areas and so that's where we'll see the regulations have to come into play."
The proposed ordinance would also have colony caretakers register the groups and help the city with placement of cats. You can read more about the ordinance here.