A cats vs. coyotes dispute at Cal State Long Beach
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At least two coyotes have been preying on feral cats that live on the Cal State Long Beach campus. But the real clash is between animal activists and university officials, who are at odds over which species should have to go, the Times’ Ann Simmons reports:
University officials say the cats are attracting the coyotes, and it is the cats that need to be removed. That has outraged many cat lovers who fear the felines will be killed. They say the coyotes present the danger, so they should be evicted. On Sunday, a small group of cat lovers lined a curb outside the university, waving handwritten signs with slogans such as ‘Save The Cats’ and chanting their message as motorists hooted and whizzed by. Cal State Long Beach spokesman Rick Gloady said he hoped that the cats could be ‘trapped and removed from campus,’ and that homes could be found for them in shelters. University officials said in a written statement that the cats had been fed and well cared for. But the felines tend to cluster around the multiple campus feeding stations -- which coyotes had discovered and started visiting, leaving behind several dead cats.
The activists who care for the cats, which have lived on the campus for decades, argue that trapping the coyotes would be easier than rounding up the cats and taking them to shelters where they might be euthanized.
-- Tony Barboza