Feral Watch makes horrific discovery in Secunda
The first thought that would come to mind would be that the poison could have been meant for dogs for burglars targeting the area but there was no sign of the poison.
SECUNDA – What would have be a normal routine feeding of feral cats in Genl De La Rey Street on Monday, 17 February, became a horrific discovery for Ms Julie Rohrs, colony caretaker for Feral Watch and TNR, and her daughter, Ms Whitney Wright.
“I feed the cats daily and this specific day I had noticed there were a lot less felines than normal. My daughter, who was in the driveway by her car, called me and said that “Ash Cat” and another were dead in the road,” said Ms Rohrs. Ash Cat was the name of one of the cats in the colony.
Ms Rohrs tried calling the rest of the colony cats, but none of them responded.
“Every night and every morning the cats would be here for feeding, they would always respond to me.”
Ms Rohrs was immediately concerned and went in search of the animals. She found eight dead cats around her property. Monteviro Imvelo was called out and they found more in empty lot next door.
In total 15 cats died. All that were found alive were two tiny two-week-old kittens. Three cats are still missing.
It is believed that the animals were poisoned, although there were no signs of foaming or vomit around their mouths. The type of poison used is a mystery.
The initial thought was that burglars put out poison to kill dogs in the neighbourhood, but there was no sign of the poison.
“This begs for the question as to who, and why would someone resort to such an extent to get rid of these cats?”
Ms Rohrs or “Cat Lady” as her neighbours refer to her has never encountered any issues before when taking care of the feral cats in her area. She has been looking after 20 feral cats over the past three years. All the neighbours are familiar with her, and in some cases, she will even feed the neighbours’ domestic cats that roam onto her property.
“This is the first time I have ever seen something like this. I don’t know whether these poor things had suffered, which they most probably did. It is horrible that someone is capable of doing such a thing. If you can hurt an animal, you are capable of hurting children,” said Ms Rohrs.
Mr Rohrs will continue feeding feral cats. She vowed to find out who the culprit is.
Non-profitable organisations such as Feral Watch and TNR, have contributed a lot in bringing down the birth rate in feral colonies by trapping the animals, having them spayed or neutered and then releasing them back into their colony.
This method, according to Ms Nicolette van Zyl, founder of Feral Watch and TNR, works best to keep the population at bay, to prevent new colonies from moving in and to ensure that the cats remain healthy and disease-free.
They have successfully targeted areas such as the Mall, the Secunda CBD and businesses in Trichardt, just to name a few.
Unfortunately they too face a huge challenge with new arrivals on a daily basis. However, most of the new arrivals in colonies are domestic cats that were dumped by their owners.
