Stop Vestar Property Management from Destroying Our Feral Colony

There is a feral cat colony located in the Long Beach Towne Center in Long Beach, California. The feral cat colony has been there for 12 years! Over the years, the colony has been taken care of by different rescue groups. Our rescue group and volunteers have been taking care of this feral cat colony for about 3 years. Our rescue group provides care to the feral cats twice a day and also has a vigorous TNR Program (Trap-Neuter-Release) in place.

Unfortunately, new property management has taken over the area where we provide food and water for the feral colony. The property manager wants us to stop feeding the feral cat colony and to take them away to be adopted. Anyone that knows the difference between a feral cat and a domestic cat can tell you that feral cats are not adoptable. If we do not do as they ask, they plan to remove the feral cat colony and take them to the El Dorado Shelter in Long Beach to be euthanized.

Property Management has been leaving traps out in the open (where people can mess with them) and are currently trying to remove our cats. On Wednesday, October 26, 2011, one of our volunteers visited the Long Beach Towne Center and saw raccoons in a trap sitting in the hot sun. Raccoons are nocturnal animals, can you imagine how long they were sitting there? That is very inhumane!

Having the feral cat colony located in the Long Beach Towne Center really is a great help to all the businesses located there. Many of the businesses including the new property management, do not understand that if you remove this feral cat colony, there will be many, many rodents. A lot more wildlife, not to mention the vaccuum effect. Removing the cats that are already living there will cause new cats to come in. Unmaintained colonies with new cats will cause an explosion of new babies. Therefore, the Long Beach Towne Center will be out of control with more feral cats then there has ever been in 12 years. They will then be going into the inner area's of the shopping center to look for food and will begin creating a problem for the businesses, as well as, the public. Our feeding and TNR keeps the cats happy and not reproducing. Therefore the cats stay on the outer limits of the Towne Center where they are cared for. For the last 2 weeks, caring for the cats has been made difficult as security continues to run us out. The cats are hungry and now gravitating towards the inner parts of the Towne Center looking for food and water.