Latest news with #feralcat
Yahoo
30-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Collier County shelter can take in cats again July 31, but rescue strain remains high
On July 17, Megan Sorbara posted a photo of a black-and-white tuxedo cat on Facebook, asking for help. She trapped the feral cat the night before and brought him to Collier County Domestic Animal Services, DAS, the next morning to be fixed. Staff turned her away. "Keep a feral cat in a cage for two weeks? Release him back and never catch him again?" Sorbara wrote in frustration. "This is kitten season, you should be at least continuing TNR (trap-neuter-return), you know try and "fix" the problem so you don't have to shut down intake year after year." Earlier this month, the county shelter announced it would temporarily halt public feline intake from July 14 through July 30, citing a spike in communicable diseases. But to many in Collier County's animal rescue community, the closure is another sign of a system struggling to keep up with the growing overpopulation and leaving residents with nowhere to turn. "Despite the best efforts of our staff and volunteers, we're currently dealing with an increase in communicable diseases in cats," DAS Director Meredith McLean said in a press release. "Temporarily pausing intake will help us reduce our feline census, protect the health of animals already in our care, and allow us to focus our resources on urgent, critical cases.' The shelter saw a 60% increase in cat intake this June compared to the same time last year. DAS only accepted cats that were critically ill, injured, or at-risk during the intake closure. This isn't the first time the shelter has closed its intake. In August 2024, the county shelter paused intake after multiple cats tested positive for feline panleukopenia, a deadly and highly contagious virus. Each time, local rescues have been left to fill the gap, if they can. More: Collier County cat rescues face ongoing challenges. A shelter's temporary closure didn't help What did it mean for rescuers like Megan Sorbara? Sorbara, who runs Purradise Gardens, a nonprofit cat rescue in Naples, said she had no choice but to pay $260 for a private veterinarian to neuter the cat the county shelter turned away. She relies on the county's shelter TNR program to help control feral cat populations, especially during kitten season. "It puts more pressure and more expense on these small groups that are not funded like they (DAS) are," Sorbara said. "We don't have staff. We don't have payroll. We don't have a ton of volunteers. We don't have the whole county behind us, and it just puts a lot of pressure on the rest of the groups." To her, the shutdown wasn't a logistical failure; it was a misuse of public resources. "Those are county tax dollars that are operating that shelter, and the county (taxpayers) should be able to use it whenever they need it," she said. "It's not a surprise. It happens every year," Sorbara said, adding that closures like this one aren't new, and the county should be better prepared. "I do understand they shut down intake to avoid all these animals getting sick," she said, "but at the same time, you know what happens every single year, you know what happens during kitten season, you know what happens during summer. This seems to always happen, so have a plan." Where to go when the county shelter is closed While DAS's feline intake was suspended, residents looked to private veterinarians or nonprofit groups. Some of those groups include: SNIP Collier offers low-cost sterilization for cats and dogs For the Love of Cats provides TNR support for East Naples and Marco Island Humane Society Naples has a rescue and adoption center Residents are encouraged to call ahead, as many local organizations are near or at capacity. What can you do? Advocates say lasting change will require a combination of policy changes, community involvement and people stepping up to help. Here's how you can help: Adopt or foster Spay and neuter your pets Be a responsible pet owner by microchipping, licensing and securing your pets Support local rescue groups by donating, volunteering and fostering The county shelter urged residents to consider fostering or adopting animals already in their care. All adoption fees have been waived through Sept. 9. "We provide all veterinary care, supplies, and support; you just provide the space and love," McLean said. "Even a short-term foster can make a life-saving difference for these animals and help us reduce our feline population." A crisis that's not going away As of July 30, the shelter reopened its feline intake. Without meaningful changes to enforcement, funding and community engagement, advocates fear more shutdowns are inevitable. 'The officers won't trap. They said it takes too much time. They really do lean on the other organizations to do that work. And then for what? We don't get anything out of it.' Her group consists entirely of volunteers and depends solely on donations. "There's only so much room we have,' she said. Despite more than a decade of efforts, the need hasn't let up. Sorbara's nonprofit has focused its work on an industrial park near Shirley Street and Taylor Road, where volunteers feed over 100 feral cats every night. "Even with all of our trapping efforts and our daily feedings and care, we're still getting kittens," she said, adding that the work costs about $3,000 a month. While county funding for animal control exists, Sorbara said it's not reaching the boots-on-the-ground groups doing daily fieldwork. "There is funding there, but they're just not using it," Sorbara said. Mickenzie Hannon is a watchdog reporter for The News-Press and Naples Daily News, covering Collier and Lee counties. Contact her at 239-435-3423 or mhannon@ This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Collier County shelter reopens cat intake after pause to fight disease Solve the daily Crossword
News.com.au
20-07-2025
- General
- News.com.au
Big cat expert reveals truth behind viral ‘panther' footage
An Australian big cat expert has revealed the truth after a clip of a supposed 'panther' went viral on social media early last week. The footage, which has amassed over 2.5 million views, shows a large, jet black cat prowling along a road in Victoria's bushland. Viewers were quick to brand it 'irrefutable proof' of the folklore that has long gripped the nation. However, former Australian Zoo big cat keeper and expert Vaughan King has now revealed the truth behind the hugely popular video. 'It's almost certainly just a healthy looking black feral cat with its winter coat,' Mr King told For years, people have believed that Australia's vast, untamed bushland could be hiding more than just kangaroos and kookaburras. In late April 2024, prospector Angus James filmed what appears to be a large, jetâ€'black feline near Ballarat, Victoria. At the time, he told that he spotted the jet black shaped animal in his paddock when he was driving past. 'I pulled up and went to zoom in on it with my camera. And then it sort of took off and just sort of panned with it.' 'It was obviously a big cat – massive – bigger than your average house cat, that's for sure,' he said. There are numerous sophisticated online databases that track 'big cat' sightings across Australia. Perhaps the most common descriptions include large, black or tan-coloured cats resembling panthers or pumas. And big cat origin theories are almost as plentiful as the sightings themselves. Some theories suggest that the so-called big cats are escapees from private zoos, circuses, or exotic pet owners. Historian David Waldron of Federation University's Ballarat campus left the door slightly ajar for the possibility of big cats roaming the nation. 'If you actually think about it, it's not particularly absurd — adding another introduced species to the pile,' he told ABC RN in 2018. Dr Waldron canvassed government and media archives to uncover evidence of the early exotic animal trade in Australia, including instances of escaped circus animals. 'I came across one case in NSW where disgruntled performers let three tigers lose when they quit,' he said. Another well-known theory is that today's cats might be descendants of abandoned mascots from World War II American soldiers. 'There definitely have been individual big cats in the bush out there from time to time, even quite recently. That's documented. 'Particularly in the 19th century where you didn't have quarantine regulations, like we have today.' Indeed, reports of big cats span back to the 1800s, with a more recent, 2001 Deakin University study concluding that evidence of big cats in the Grampians was 'beyond reasonable doubt.' In Vaughan King's documentary ' The Hunt: In Search of Australia's Big Cats ', the big cat expert teamed up with veteran researchers John Turner and Simon Townsend to investigate the sightings that have gripped Australians. The film investigated multiple reports across the Otways in Victoria, the Hunter Valley in New South Wales and southâ€'west Western Australia. Mr King — who moved his family to Victoria to lead the project — used longâ€'range camera traps, thermal drones, DNA sampling and intensive field investigations. The team received hundreds of reports of sightings in the lead up to filming, some of which ranged from strange growls in the night and barbarous livestock killings. In Victoria's Yarra and Dandenong Ranges, Mr King declared a big cat could '100 per cent' survive — despite the absence of sightings during filming. Over in NSW in the Blue Mountains region, there have been over 560 reports of big cat sightings in the Hawkesbury, Blue Mountains and Lithgow area since 1998. In response, the Department of Primary Industries commissioned four inquiries during the years 1999, 2003, 2008 and 2013. In a 1999 letter to then National Parks and Wildlife Service director-general Brian Gilligan, Department of Agriculture head Kevin Sheridan warned: ''The reports are becoming too frequent for us to ignore the possibility. To … do so could bring into question government's duty of care.'' Wildlife ecologist Johannes Bauer was later commissioned to provide expert opinion. 'Difficult as it seems to accept, the most likely explanation of the evidence is the presence of a large, feline predator,'' he said. 'In this area, [it is] most likely a leopard, less likely a jaguar.'' In 2008, the report concluded: 'There is no scientific evidence found during this review that conclusively proves the presence of free-ranging exotic large cats in NSW, but a presence cannot be discounted, and it seems more likely than not on available evidence that such animals do exist in NSW.' However, the 2013 inquiry returned bad news for lovers of the lore with invasive species expert John Parkes labelling the 500 eyewitness accounts as 'at best prima facie evidence'', saying 'large dogs, large feral cats or swamp wallabies'' were the likely candidates. But eyewitnesses continue to disagree. In 2020, professional photographer Amber Noseda captured a series of photos of a large, sleek black cat sauntering into the bush in southwest Victoria in 2020. That same year, TV host Grant Denyer revealed he had seen what he believes to be 'sheep-sized' panthers on his Bathurst property. 'I'll give you an exclusive, and don't think I'm crazy, but I am on the panther bandwagon right now,' Denyer told at the time. 'I'm talking about the famous panthers that roam the Australian bush,' he said. 'I've seen the panther twice on the bottom of my farm and I have video to prove it — although blurry and zoomed 10 times on my iPhone,' he said. Whether stories of panthers quietly stalking the Australian bush are true or not remains unknown, but witnesses and investigators are not giving up anytime soon.
South China Morning Post
24-05-2025
- General
- South China Morning Post
Removal of Philippines' beloved ‘sherpa cat' Pugal sparks heated debate
The removal of a beloved cat regularly seen roaming the hiking trails of one of the Philippines ' highest peaks has sparked heated online debate between advocates of animal welfare and wildlife conservation. The affectionate feral cat, named Pugal, gained online celebrity status after photos circulated of it cosying up to hikers and even entering campsites on Mount Pulag in northern Philippines, the country's third-highest summit. However, environmental authorities confirmed that the animal was removed from the area, a declared protected landscape due to its biodiversity. 'Pugal is now being taken care of by one of our Pulag Protected Area Management Office (PAMO) staff. A veterinarian is being sent to check on the cat,' the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said on its Facebook page last Sunday. The department's actions followed a post by a popular local outlet called the Cordillera Sun, which referred to Pulag as 'an invasive predator that needs to be removed from the area'. 'Is it cute and adorable? Yes. But it's also an unwanted predator. It's an invasive species that hunts down native and endemic wildlife that live within the Mount Pulag Protected Landscape. These include birds, small mammals like cloud rats, and small reptiles,' it wrote.
