No Kitten, Feds Land in Cat-astrophe for Removing Puerto Rico's Famous Strays

Hundreds of stray cats live around the San Juan National Historic Site, a popular tourist spot. Locals and tourists have mixed feelings about the cats – some enjoy them, others find them a nuisance. The National Park Service wants to remove the cats, citing concerns about disease and wanting to protect the historic site. Animal welfare groups are strongly opposed to this plan. Now, there’s a lawsuit to stop the government from removing the cats, and the feds may find themselves in a hairy situation.

Cats in the Capital

The stray cats of Puerto Rico have been around for centuries. For some, they’re a cherished part of the city’s history and contemporary community. The stray cats of the capital, San Juan, are particularly famous and have a colorful history. They are concentrated in the Old San Juan neighborhood, notably around the Paseo Del Morro National Recreational Trail at the San Juan National Historic Site. This site consists of impressive Spanish colonial fortifications and is a major draw for tourists.

The stray cats have lived in this area before it came under federal jurisdiction. Some may be descendants brought by Spanish colonists for pest control, while others were introduced by a mid-20th century mayor. These felines have become a beloved fixture for some tourists and residents, but their numbers have grown, creating a management challenge.

Feds Fed Up With Felines

The National Park Service (NPS) is a U.S. government agency that protects America's natural and cultural landscapes. They manage national parks, monuments, and historic sites across the country. In Puerto Rico, the NPS specifically manages the National Historic Site. There, a large population of stray cats has caused problems for the park's ecosystem and cleanliness. The NPS is looking for solutions to manage the cat population humanely, while animal welfare groups argue for alternative approaches.

The latter groups, for example, may advocate for Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs to manage the cat population humanely. TNR programs involve trapping cats, neutering them, eartipping them, vaccinating them and even providing veterinarian care. They are then returned to the Park. In the past, NPS partnered with a non-profit organization to manage the health, welfare, and population of the stray cats through TNR program. Feline advocates would say that TNR programs improve cats’ lives and allow them to thrive in their natural outdoor home.

But recently, NPS decided to end the TNR program and instead implement a phased plan to manage the cats. The new plan still includes trapping and removal efforts by an animal welfare organization if one is found suitable. Otherwise, the cats will be taken care of by a removal agency, and all feeding stations in the park will be removed. NPS plans to euthanize any removed cats that are deemed unsuitable for adoption and which animal shelters don’t have space for.

NPS claims the plan is necessary for a number of reasons. Some are focused on improving the park as a tourist experience: NPS claims that the cats need to be reduced or removed to “improve the safety of Park visitors and employees,” alleviate “nuisance issues,” and “align the visitor experience with the purpose of the Park.” Another is to reduce impacts of the cats on native wildlife species and “bring the Park into compliance with existing authorities for invasive species.” Finally, NPS claims that there are just not enough resources to keep maintaining the cats.

Alley Cat Allies Sue NPS

Cat interest groups don’t buy it. One such group is the adorably-named Alley Cat Allies. They’re an international nonprofit that aims to “protect and improve cats’ lives through advocacy, education, and action.” They claim that the government’s “espoused justifications for its Plan are transparently pretextual.” Now, they’ve taken them to court over the cat issue, in order to prevent what they see as the “unlawful, misguided, and cruel roundup and likely extermination of scores of cats” from federal land in the territory.

Their legal complaint makes clear that they don’t buy any of NPS’ justifications for doing away with the TNR program. They claim that NPS has provided no evidence that the stray cats pose any danger either to humans or the native species or wildlife. They claim that there’s evidence that the cats are a “nuisance,” and that this description is exaggerated at best. They point out that NPS “makes no attempt to explain why existing authorities for managing invasive species — assuming the cats can be classified as an invasive species —are suddenly a paramount concern after nearly two decades of an active TNR program which has contributed to a harmonious coexistence between cats, the community, and tourists.”

Moreover, Alley Cat Allies points out that rather than consider in earnest alternatives to removing and killing the community cats, NPS arbitrarily decided that this was the way to go. This, they claim, violates the National Environmental Policy Act. They’re asking a federal court in D.C. to make NPS draw up an “Environmental Assessment” or “Environmental Impact Statement” that analyzes the site-specific impact of community cats within the Paseo and the environmental impact of ceasing the TNR program and removing cats from the Park and that considers a reasonable range of alternatives to the current Plan.

For Boricuas and tourists alike, this case could have a big impact on one of San Juan’s cutest communities.

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