Coupeville: It's not WAIF feeding cats

In response to Jeanne Carrington’s letter Feb. 9, WAIF does not feed feral cats. My husband and I are volunteers at WAIF. First of all, there is a leash law in Coupeville. This letter is to tell Jeanne Carrington and others that WAIF does not feed the feral cats. My husband and I do, and the money comes out of our own pockets.

What WAIF does after we trap the feral cat is spaying and neutering them for free. Last year we trapped two of Mrs. Carrington’s ferals and had them spayed at WAIF’s expense. She thought that was okay. Pooh, the 14-year-old dog, is a nice dog, but he is still loose every morning and afternoon, and according to neighbors he’s always roamed around way before we started feeding the cats. Now I feel sorry for the poor dog. Cat food is not good for him; it has too much protein. What he should have is a good dog food, and a clean place to eat with fresh water daily.

The cats do what they are supposed to do. That means killing rats and mice, even if they are well-fed, because they are hunters naturally. We have seen them in action. And for feeding the pigeons or not, they will still be there. As for the landscaping, the cats dig a hole and cover it. When was the last time that anybody got sick over feral cats or pigeons?

Talking about the beauty of the town, a lot of tourists told us last summer that the first thing they do is come down to the wharf to see the cats. There have not been any cats dumped for the last two years, that we have noticed. There is the same amount of cats. Last year we trapped around the library and the wharf 12 feral kittens that we socialized, and through WAIF’s adoption center were able to find them good and loving homes.

Some people should take a look in their own backyard before criticizing.

Elise and Bill Junkans

Coupeville

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