Miami-Dade sets thousands of stray cats free. Should feeding them be legal?

Miami Herald

20-05-2025

When a stray cat in a Kendall shopping center happens upon a pile of kibble near a Lowe's parking lot, they often have Virginia Dieppa to thank. At least for now.
The 70-year-old retiree delivers for Uber Eats on the side to cover the cost of food for dozens of cats living on the edge of the Lowe's off of Southwest 137th Avenue. She uses a notepad to keep track of the ones she's named: Patches, Pearle, Sox, Midnight, Kee-Nee. The trunk of her car is crammed with water jugs, cat food and donated Pollo Tropical bowls for feeding dishes.
While the cats consistently eat up her effort, not everybody is a fan. Dieppa and other volunteer feeders say they've been warned by police that they don't have permission to leave food in the private parking lot. Dieppa said a nearby daycare complained of cat waste. Last week, the Miami-Dade commissioner representing that area of Kendall, Raquel Regalado, filed legislation to ban the feeding of stray animals outside of businesses or in public parks but ultimately revoked it after receiving backlash.
'I was in shock,' Dieppa said of the pushback against feline feeding outside the Lowe's. 'Those cats have been fed for 18 years.'
Dieppa's angst captures some of the complications surrounding a growing population of stray cats that is indirectly sanctioned by Miami-Dade's county government. Last year, the county's Animal Services Department released back onto the streets nearly 18,000 stray cats — each of them sterilized after being caught in a county-supplied trap or turned in by a member of the public.
While Miami-Dade used to euthanize stray cats, the policy changed in 2012 amid pressure to dramatically boost the survival rate at the shelter. Miami-Dade then launched its 'TNR' program — Trap, Neuter and Return.
The number of cats serviced by the program, which vaccinates cats in addition to sterilizing them, has doubled over the last decade. In 2016, about 8,700 cats were released, according to county figures. Last year, Miami-Dade released about 17,800 sterilized cats back onto the streets.
Who feeds the cats once the county sets them free? In a statement, Animal Services said street cats are able to fend for themselves.
'Community cats are highly adaptable and naturally equipped to survive outdoors,' the statement said. 'With their strong territorial instincts, they learn to navigate their surroundings, locate food and water sources, and seek out safe shelter.'
But the county's unofficial network of cat feeders say their efforts are key to providing a humane existence for the thousands of strays trying to survive without homes.
'One of the cats I'm feeding is missing an eye. One is missing a leg,' said Samuel Muvdi, 25, who tends to a group of cats living in a different Kendall shopping center. 'When I whistle, they all come running.'
The question of what to do with homeless cats is controversial. PETA, the animal-rights group, said releasing sterilized feral cats back into the wild can be humane, provided they're fed and monitored for health issues and not at risk of getting hit by cars. Otherwise, the organization's website says, 'allowing feral cats to continue their daily struggle for survival in a hostile environment is not usually a humane option.' Bird deaths are a concern, too. The American Bird Conservancy's agenda includes 'keeping cats indoors,' and it blames 1 billion bird deaths a year on prowling felines.
Last week, the friction spiked in Miami-Dade when Regalado introduced legislation to create a $100 fine for people feeding feral cats, dogs and peacocks on public or commercial property. The legislation cited 'unsightly conditions' from the feeding efforts, which the proposed ordinance said can 'attract vermin, clog storm drains, and contribute to pollution in the County's stormwater systems' — a reference to the role that pet waste plays after heavy rains.
Regalado said the legislation was designed to 'de-criminalize' feeding operations by giving authorities the option of issuing a fine instead of charging people like Dieppa with trespassing for feeding in places where they're not authorized.
But the backlash was sharp enough that Regalado killed the legislation just days after it became public. 'If people want to keep the status quo, the status quo it is,' she said. The proposed ordinance was withdrawn from the agenda of Tuesday's County Commission meeting.
In the meantime, the retreat from the potential ban on feeding doesn't fix the friction over the cats Dieppa and other volunteers are feeding around the Kendall Lowe's.
A corporate spokesperson for the hardware-store chain was not available for comment this week. A wall near the wooded area where the cats forage now has a yellow sign that says 'DO NOT FEED CATS.'
Dieppa said the volunteer feeders have gotten conflicting information, so they're continuing to distribute food during hours when the parking lot isn't busy. They're concerned about the cats not having access to water as the temperature heats up if the volunteers can no longer set out their dishes.
'In the summer, we actually go twice a day to put out water,' said Alicia Carnevale, who also feeds those cats and at one point paid $400 to have several of them sterilized and treated by a vet. 'If we weren't doing this, they would probably die.'