Arrecife held a coordination meeting last Monday to manage feline colonies. The Citizen Participation Center located in the Argana Alta neighborhood hosted the coordination meeting promoted by the Department of Animal Welfare after the recent approval of the Ordinance for the Management of Feline Colonies.
In addition to Jacobo Lemes himself and the Deputy Mayor of Arrecife, Echedey Eugenio, the meeting was attended by technicians from the Health and Animal Welfare Area, representatives of animal protection associations and other volunteers in the care of the colonies, agents of the Animal Protection and Environment Unit (UPAM), as well as the coordinator and veterinarian of the Animal Protection Center (CPA) of Arrecife.
The Councilor for Animal Welfare of the Arrecife City Council stressed "the importance of this meeting convened so that all parties involved work in a coordinated manner to gradually implement the measures contemplated in the ordinance."
Among the issues addressed was the requirements that must be met by people who have submitted a request to "be able to feed the animals" who, once authorized, will have a card that will enable them to perform this function. Likewise, the organization of training courses for these feeders and caregivers of the colonies was reported.
Jacobo Lemes recalled that the ordinance approved by the plenary session of the council details the procedures for registration, verification, authorization, signage, controlled feeding, population control and animal welfare in the feline colonies of the municipality, so it is "a very important tool to respond to the growing proliferation and uncontrolled settlement of cats in the city, with the consequent inconveniences for neighborhood coexistence, the environment, public health and animal welfare itself."
The measures it contemplates include the creation of a register of cats grouped in colonies in the municipality of Arrecife; the protection and management of cats through their mandatory identification by microchip and the CER method (Capture, Sterilization and Return); authorized feeding of cats through a municipal accreditation for feeders and caregivers of controlled feline colonies; promotion of the adoption of cats from socializable colonies and citizen awareness campaigns.
