The recent coyote sightings on campus have been a cause of concern for the Cal State Long Beach community, but the university’s response has angered some.
The university has mandated that the feral cats, be removed within 40 days of July 11. A protest of the decision spawned from campus and community members near 7th Street and West Campus Drive on Sunday.
Mauled cat carcasses have been found near several of the 15 cat feeding stations around campus, indicating that coyotes are feeding off the more than 100 cats that roam campus. The university, having been advised by animal behavior experts, has decided that eliminating the food source is its best chance to make the coyotes go away.
Protestors say this may not work. “The cats are just one item of the buffet,” said Leslie Abrahams, a long-time cat caretaker and an organizer of Sunday’s protest. She explained that other wildlife on campus including, opossums, squirrels and raccoons, are also to blame. It was stated previously that the more wild cats unfit for adoption, would be euthanized.
Now, however, the university is interested in helping the volunteers in trapping and finding a home for the cats. There is no intent to euthanize them,” said Toni Beron, vice president of University Relations. Abrahams doesn’t believe adoption for all of the cats is a reasonable answer to the problem. She notes that many of the cats are feral, which means that they are not domesticated and are distrustful of close human contact. Adoption may be nearly impossible.
Abrahams also noted that the role feral cats play in keeping the rodent population down is, “a huge service the cats do for the campus.” Beron said that after notifying the campus community of coyotes, numerous sightings were reported.
“There were sightings all over campus, mostly single coyotes but a few [sightings] of two traveling together,” Beron said. “Our first concern is for the protection of the human populations,” Beron said.
The cat sympathizers realize that the coyotes do pose a problem for the campus, which hosts camps for youth as well as a day care center. However, they still say that getting rid of the coyotes is the best solution to the problem.
“The California Department of Fish and Game has the authority to remove the coyotes, not the university,” Beron said, adding that the department had conducted an investigation and would pass the findings on to the university soon.
Associated Students Inc. released a statement on the feral cat situation:”ASI endorses the safe and humane removal of cats from campus and their relocation to ‘no kill’ animal shelters … In the meantime, ASI calls upon the university to immediately cease the destruction of the cats’ campus habitats until the reported 40 day deadline to remove the cats has passed.”
Abrahams – out of her own pocket – has spent a lot of money on the feral cats including the expenses of medication, surgeries and food. Pat Meredith, a CSULB psychology professor, has also been active in supporting the cats.
Along with other volunteers, including numerous students, she has been able to organize Beach Cats, a campus club that would spay and neuter the cats. After every school year, however, the caretakers notice a jump in population as some students abandon their cats, believing that they will be taken care of by the supporters.
Abrahams said her group of supporters tried to schedule a meeting with the administration to discuss the situation and work out a solution that is beneficial to the campus and the cats, but they were declined.
The group has said that they would file an injunction to stop the removal of the cats, if necessary. In an all-staff e-mail on Tuesday, the University stated, “University officials understand that removal of the feral cat population is a difficult and emotionally charged situation, and are hopeful that volunteers will agree to move away from the status quo, which leaves feral cats at continued risk to coyotes, and will assist in locating new homes for them.”
