Coupeville: WAIF shouldn't feed feral cats

Recently my dog and companion, Pooh, a 14-year-old arthritic golden lab, was reported to the animal control authorities for failure to be constrained on a leash. Ordinarily he stays only in my yard. Because cat food was placed across the street at the library, he was naturally attracted by it. The WAIF Society may not be as altruistic as we believe them to be. By feeding and nurturing the wild and feral cats of Coupeville and Whidbey Island, they are enticing our domestic pets and encouraging the wild cats to roam our environs. These wild cats no longer follow their natural instincts of catching and capturing their normal prey, mice and rats, thus increasing the numbers of these rodents in and around the Coupeville area. Also, people feeding the pigeons and other birds only tends to cause them to congregate on our buildings and piers, defecate, thus soiling the landscape and encouraging disease and infection.

In my opinion, this particular WAIF program should be discontinued. Animal control indicated that Coupeville has become a dumping ground for unwanted cats, with owners knowing they would be fed and cared for.

Let’s get our priorities straight. Sure we care about our wildlife, but should it harm our own properties, domestic animals and our town’s historical significance and beauty? We need to discourage this misjudgment of humanity to wildlife and direct it to a reasonable consideration of ourselves, our property and our pets.

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