Trap, Neuter and Return: Feral Cat Program Makes Progress in Flagler Beach, But Not in Palm Coast | FlaglerLive

Calling Dustin Zacks - some people of Flagler Beach feel your  pain! They have started a trap, neuter and release program, but are now tweaking it a bit while neighboring Palm Coast is still searching for an answer. The administrative and operational burden is real, for both the residents and the city staff. Click title for link. This is one resident's plight:

Donn Pedersen of 1208 North Central Avenue in Flagler Beach sees it differently: “I have a terrible cat problem at my house,” he said. “At any given time there are 15 or 20 cats around my house.” The city’s code enforcement hasn’t been much help, though it’s issued the odd citation to the woman who keeps feeding the cats. “I’ve sent in pictures on several occasions of all the cats. It presents a real health hazard in that before I mow my grass, I have to clean up 50 to over 100 piles of cat poo. I can’t go outside to enjoy my yard in the summertime, because the cat stench is so bad. I’ve heard about the trap, neuter and release program, and so I’m here to address that, because I have this problem here. Trapping is great. Anybody wants to trap a cat, I’m all for it. Neuter ‘em, it’s a wonderful thing. You want to pay to neuter ‘em, neuter the part. It’s the release part that I have the problem with. They take the cat after they’re done and they bring ti back to the same place again. So if at the beginning of the day I have 20 cats in my yard and they’re going to bring them back again at the end of the day, I have 20 cats in my yard still. It’s the release part of this problem that doesn’t work. So I ask the question: where’s the end of this thing? Well, the cats will eventually die. OK. Well, how long before the cats die? Years. So you’re telling me I have to be able to live, not being able to enjoy my yard, and I have to clean up cat after cat all over my yard, an excessive amount, for years. It’s not healthy, it’s just not right. My life is just messed up because of all these cats, and yet everybody wants to do this release them back to the same place again.”
Pederson got support from a neighbor who called himself “in Don’s camp” and urged commissioners to find a way to exile the cats after they’ve been neutered, in what would amount to a forced relocation program.