GREENWICH, CT — Town officials are continuing to work on coming up with an ordinance to address the problem of feral cats, notably in Old Greenwich, according to First Selectman Fred Camillo.
The issue was first discussed at the Board of Selectmen meeting on Aug. 8. Pam Petito, a 30-year resident of Old Greenwich, spoke during the meeting and detailed her experiences dealing with feral cats on her property.
While the town’s nuisance ordinance wouldn’t rectify the problem, Town Attorney Barbara Schellenberg said at the time that a section within the Connecticut General Statutes allows municipalities to adopt an ordinance requiring the registration of keepers of feral cats in residential or commercial areas.
During this week’s Board of Selectmen meeting, Camillo said the town has looked at ordinances from other towns that could work in Greenwich. The board is expected to go more in depth on ordinance language at its regularly scheduled meeting on Sept. 12.
“There are a couple [of ordinances] I thought could work, but certainly we’ll put it on the agenda to discuss and hopefully get it to the RTM,” Camillo said.
Also during this week’s meeting, Old Greenwich resident Heidi Shafranek said the problem has persisted.
“While lately I’m not seeing new cats on my property, my neighbors are with frequency,” she said.
In the past two weeks, Shafranek said at least two cats — one possibly injured and another “emaciated” — were reported at Tod’s Point. Shafranek also said her neighbor found a dead cat in her yard that had been mauled by another animal.
“As I talk with more neighbors, I find that homeowners on Shorehame Club Road and East Point Lane are also having problems, and elsewhere in Old Greenwich, a friend on Highview [Avenue] reported a feral colony in that area, and another friend had been trying to find help for a mother cat and two kittens from that colony,” Shafranek said.
“We look forward to hearing the ordinance addressing feral cat issues in the September meeting, and hope it will require pet owners and keepers to take responsibility for their cats by registering them and by having them at least vaccinated against rabies as current law requires,” Shafranek added. “In the meantime, my neighbors and I will continue to keep all departments in the loop on developments on our specific properties so that the cats can be trapped, neutered and relocated.”
Shafranek thanked the board, Greenwich Animal Control, the Department of Health, the town’s legal department, and rescue groups “who are working to resolve the problem of feral cats, and in a humane way.”
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
Click Here: wexford gaa jerseys