ST. MARY PARISH — If you're walking in Berwick, chances are you’ll run into a cat.
With many of them hanging outside of homes.
But that could change soon after an ordinance was introduced prohibiting those from feeding stray animals on public and private properties if it is not their own.
Town of Berwick Mayor Duval Arthur said in recent years the town has seen more stray cats on the streets, due to people leaving food out for them.
"We're getting complaints from business owners as well as people in the community with all the amount of stray cats we have running around,” Arthur said.
“They’re just dumping the cat food there thinking that cats will go eat and they'll go on back to wherever they were sleeping at. But it doesn't work like that.”
Arthur said one popular feeding spot is outside of Berwick Elementary School.
He said more recently cat food has been placed outside of businesses, that are taking the hit.
"We've had several businesses that have had to contact insect people to come over and spray for fleas, ticks and things like that, that haven't had a problem before,” Arthur said.
The town currently has a partnership with St. Mary Advocate and Rescue for Companion Animals.
Through funds from the town the non-profit will trap, spay and neuter cats, also known as TNR, to control their population.
Aviary Creature Rescue Director Alyssa Muse, who also volunteers for St. Mary Advocate and Rescue for Companion Animals, said feeding bans usually will not help with a stray problem.
"A lot of the complaints are ‘Oh the stray cats bring fleas or they bring disease’,” Muse said.
“Well, you know what fleas come from? Squirrels and raccoons and other wlidlife, and the diseases actually bring them up when you stop feeding them because they get more sick. And when we TNR them they get vaccinated and they get wormed before they're released so we're keeping tabs on that as well.”
She feels there should be more resources for TNR and a designated area for feral cats.
"If we got a feral colony going which is simply a piece of land, with a fence where they can’t escape, some coverage, just a nice home for them, once they're fixed they get moved there and they live out their three to five years,” Muse said.
“And then we really have a beautiful hold on the community.”
If passed, Berwick would be the first in the parish to implement this ordinance.
A public hearing will be held at a Town Council Meeting on August 6, and Arthur encourages the public to voice their opinions on the ordinance.
