White Oak: Council to consider ordinances dealing with cats, chickens
By JEFF STITT
jstitt@yourmvi.com
White Oak council is expected to vote tonight on whether to amend a feral cat ordinance and to establish a chicken ordinance.
The feral cat ordinance states that the borough feels it’s in the best interest of the health, safety and welfare of residents to establish restrictions and regulations regarding feral and stray cats.
Council drew a standing room-only crown for its February meeting as about three dozen animal lovers came to ask the council to take steps to change ordinances on feeding feral cats. That came after a resident received a letter Feb. 5, stating she had five days to stop running a cat colony on her property because neighbors viewed it as a nuisance.
The resident ended up not being cited, Mayor Ina Jean Marton said in February.
Donna Priselac, who identified herself as a volunteer from Frankie’s Friends animal rescue, was joined at the meeting by Dr. Becky Morrow, the medical director and lead veterinarian for Frankie’s Friends.
Priselac presented a large stack of petitions signed by more than 18,000 people on Change.org. They urged council to “consider creating a new or revised cat ordinance.”
“Five years from now, you guys as animal lovers might not be sitting here and we’ll be back here again with an even bigger problem,” she said. “We would like to have an open discussion with you about revising the ordinance so that it is animal friendly and so that we don’t have the situation where someone gets a citation in the mail.”
Marton, a self-proclaimed animal lover who founded and operates the White Oak Animal Safe Haven, in February said neighbors were taking issue with cats being fed from “big plastic tote containers” filled with cat food. Residents reported that the totes were being left open and filled throughout the day.
Marton said the neighbors also complained that the cats were urinating and defecating in landscaped parts of their property and causing damage to outdoor decorations and patio furniture.
“We don’t want to hurt any of our cats,” Marton said in February. “My only problem is that when you feed wild animals in the backyard … you have a big fear that you’re feeding deer, skunks and raccoons with rabies, and we had one with rabies the other day.
“And not only that, but we don’t need coyotes here because we have a lot of coyotes in the park. What’s that gonna do? It’s gonna come in and kill your cats.”
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