LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Pass laws requiring that all cats be spayed, neutered and kept indoors

Five people were reportedly arrested in connection with the fatal poisoning of 13 cats in Summerville, including a man who allegedly complained that the cats were a nuisance and he didn't like having them around. Cats dumped outdoors in trap-neuter-(re)abandon (TNR) programs are routinely abused and killed by people who won’t tolerate them digging in their gardens, killing wildlife or scratching cars. It’s just one of the reasons why these programs are abjectly inhumane.

Earlier this year in Bluffton, a cat in a TNR colony was found next to a dumpster, paralyzed, with a .22 caliber bullet in her back. She had to be euthanized. Five days later, a second cat was found shot dead. In Dillon, a cat being fed behind a church was found with a bullet hole near the spine, and another cat had apparently been doused in acid, leaving her leg bones exposed. A cat in Columbia was shot with an arrow. His front leg broke in at least four places and became infected and infested with maggots, necessitating amputation.

These are just a few examples from South Carolina—countless others go unreported. Cats forced to live outdoors also routinely starve and freeze, languish with untreated infections, injuries, and diseases, are run over by cars or torn apart by dogs, and suffer other horrific fates.

Dumping cats on the streets is cruel and does not solve the animal homelessness or overpopulation crises. People who want to help cats should work to pass laws requiring that all cats be spayed, neutered and kept indoors, where they are safe.

Sincerely,

Teresa Chagrin
Animal Care and Control Issues Manager
PETA