German city to neuter all stray cats

City of Bremen to take drastic action to tackle out-of-control feline population, which threatens local songbirds All stray cats in the north German city of Bremen are to be neutered under plans by the local council which campaigners hope could be extended to the whole country. The drastic measure has been proposed by Bremen’s interior minister, Ulrich Mäurer, in an attempt to control the city’s burgeoning feline population, which is threatening local songbirds. The local cat shelter used to look after around 120 cats at any one time. Now it has 378 on its books and fears that number will soon reach 500. In addition, at least 1,000 stray cats roam the streets, chasing birds and, it is feared, spreading disease. “There are so many that the situation has got out of control,” said Wolfgang Apel, chairman of the Bremen Animal Protection Society, which has started a petition inviting visitors to support mandatory castration. “They are becoming a burden to the public,” he told the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. Under the mooted new law, anyone who allowed their cat to run free would be forced to pay to have it neutered. It currently costs between €130 and €150 (£113 to £131) to spay a female cat, and €100 to castrate a tomcat. Apel hopes that if the law is passed in Bremen, it will lead to nationwide legislation. In Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, Green MP Undine Kurth said the government should take responsibility for the growing problem. “It would help a lot,” said Kurth, “if the federal ministry of agriculture would initiate a debate on the wretched situation.” A number of small German towns already advocate the compulsory neutering of stray cats, including Paderborn in North Rhine-Westphalia, which was home to 40,000 stray cats before it introduced forced castration three years ago. Now, pet owners in Paderborn must tattoo their cats, or implant them with a microchip. If they are found to have abandoned their cats, they are handed a €500 fine. Germany Animal welfare Animals Europe Helen Pidd guardian.co.uk

Posted by on March 24, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.