Good news and bad news in West Hawaii Today this week. This article was on the front page a couple of days ago.
Relocation of cats ‘going well so far’: Animal rescue effort finds homes for Waikoloa felines by Kelsey Walling – West Hawaii Today (June 6, 2023)
According to this story 64 cats have been captured at Queens’ Marketplace. They were spayed/neutered and vaccinated before going to adopters who will kennel the cats for a period of time until the felines become used to their new surroundings. Two rescue groups worked together on this first phase, Aloha Animal Oasis (AAO) and Hawaii Animal Kuleana Alliance (HAKA), and will resume trapping as they find homes for the cats. These groups need volunteers, donations, and of course, adopters!
This letter to the editor published yesterday June 7, 2023. Mr. Chraminski volunteers with AdvoCATS so he has firsthand experience with feeding and caring for a colony of cats.
Cat issue’ spreads
The feral cat issue has reached Keauhou Shopping Center area.
The AdvoCATS group has been leading cat feeders as part of their catch/neuter/ release program, and in the six years I have been a feeder, the population has declined — except not as fast as it should due to irresponsible cat owners dumping cats there.
Now Kamehameha Schools, the property owner, and mall management are making it a trespassing crime to continue feeding the cats.
Their solution is that now the 30 or so cats will wander the whole mall, starving, looking for handouts, and management will then scrape up the carcasses, I guess.
Where is all the animal-control money just allocated going, and why are they not leading to solutions including for cats, mongooses, pigs and goats that run feral all over town now?
Even trapping and euthanizing is more humane than starvation.
Stanley Chraminski Kailua-Kona
I’ll leave it at that for now.