Cats poisoned!

Would the person on the Santa Marija estate who is putting down poison either for rats or cats, please, please stop! If it is for rats it should be put in the proper container where the rats can get at it but other animals cannot. If it is to deliberately poison the cats on the estate then you have no compassion or soul. Have you ever seen a feral cat slowly dying of poison where you cannot do anything to help it as you cannot catch it? It is agonising!

The best way to control the feral cat population is not to exterminate them but to implement a TNR programme (Trap, Neuter, Release). When you kill a colony of feral cats you create a vacuum and other cats will move in to take their place. If you just feed and water the cats you are, quite unwittingly, helping to compound the problem. Feeding produces fitter, healthier cats who breed more and produce healthier kittens who are more likely to live. But please, do not stop feeding because of that. They desperately need your help.

More people are needed who are compassionate to the cats who can do at least some trapping and neutering, then releasing them. More traps are needed and financial help towards the neutering. It costs less in the long run to control the cats this way as two cats will produce thousands of cats in a few years. The cats of Malta are famous and appear on postcards and calendars that go all over the world. Please help to take care of them; a well-managed feral colony is fascinating to watch and can give much pleasure.