Examination
Published on August 21, 2024
The prevalence of free cats on public roads is a sensitive issue that poisons life in certain neighborhoods, but also for municipalities that have to deal with complex situations. We were contacted by Laetitia, a resident of Ploërmel, who complains about a “chronic stray cat problem” but also about the inertia of the municipality of Ploërmel and its municipal police. Granted, this issue concerns a cat and two kittens, but it perfectly illustrates a real social problem complicated by a lack of public awareness of the legislation that applies in this area.
The Ploërmel Municipal Police confirmed to us that they had taken into account the complaint of this resident, which reached them a few days earlier, and requested the installation of a cage to capture the feline in question. “Ploërmel town hall takes all the necessary measures to fulfill its obligations regarding the care of stray animals by having a contract with an animal pound of the SACPA group, the Ploeren Le Bois des Mûriers animal center”, clarifies Patrice Debois, head of the municipal police.
Stray or stray cats?
But it is not that simple. Because before starting to capture the animal, it is still necessary to be able to determine whether it falls under the category of stray cats – or rather “free cats” to use the established term – and that it is not This is not a “wandering” ” animal with an owner. To do this, the public must be informed of the trapping campaign at least a week in advance, to allow cat owners to keep their animals at home and/or have them identified. A particularly uncertain duty of information during this summer period, as people often go on holiday and leave their cat free.
The municipality of Ploërmel organizes captures twice a year with animal pound, as long as the presence of free cats is clearly established. And it’s not easy, because cats must meet the following 3 conditions to be targeted for capture:
– be unidentified (a captured identified cat must be directed to the pound to be returned to its owner)
– be without an owner or possessor
– live in groups in public places in the municipality (which excludes animals in the private domain)
It is forbidden to feed stray animals
Cats are actually very independent. However, the law requires that they be identified with an electronic chip or tattoo from the age of 7 months. “It is appropriate to remember the duties and obligations of each individual. This includes identifying your animal, but also not feeding stray cats. As soon as you give space or food to a cat, you become its guardian and therefore … responsible”, recalls the municipal police, referring to Article 120 of the department’s health regulations, which provides ” that it is prohibited to throw or place seeds or food in all public places to attract stray, wild or returned animals, especially cats or pigeons; the same prohibition applies to private roads, yards or other parts of a building when this practice risks being a nuisance to the neighborhood or attracting rodents…”
A vision that Laetitia disputes, citing other texts in the rural district law that she considers contradictory. ” Depriving a domestic animal of food and water is recognized as passive cruelty in accordance with Article R214-17 of the Rural Code. The stray cat is recognized as a domestic animal by the decree of April 3, 2014, which establishes the health and animal protection rules with which activities related to pets of domestic animals fall under IV of article L. 214-6 of the law on rural areas and sea fishing. It remains to be seen which legal text will prevail…«, she asks.
The unequivocal answer is given by the municipal police: this article is only applicable and accompanied by sanctions when it concerns the recognized owner of the animal.
According to Laetitia, feeding stray cats has benefits: “ it avoids the tearing of litter boxes, keeps cats in a satisfactory state of health and therefore reduces health risks because animals weakened by lack of food and water will inevitably declare and spread diseases. They also risk being injured, and it will be up to the mayor, in this case, to take care of them (art. R214-17 of the Rural District Act). Finally, it allows you to maintain chats on a single site, making them easier to capture“.
The municipality of Ploërmel each pays a subsidy to the “coups de pattes” association, which intervenes regularly and within the limits of its funds to resolve various situations. It was she who was asked to try to capture the cat and her two babies, reported by Laetitia, and attempts have already been made.
The Coups de Pattes association faces a growing problem
It must be said: the problem of stray cats and their spread is first and foremost a citizen problem. Too often, the laxity of cat owners is the cause of this thorny social phenomenon. Negligence that shifts responsibility onto others and society.
Ignorance of the law, incivility… The association Coups de Pattes, created since 2021, is fighting hard for the well-being of these abandoned cats and as best they can to remedy the cases brought to it. However, it plays a leading role in the system and works closely with the municipal police in Ploërmel, with which it has also signed an agreement. It is this association, for example, that the municipal police called upon to try to catch the stray cat and her two little ones that Laetitia had reported. Laurence Bostvironnois, the president of Coups de Pattes, is convinced of the benefits of trapping and sterilization. “It is important to release the cat after its sterilization where it was caught. He knows his neighborhood, finds his habits, and other cats do not come to settle in his territory…”. Not to mention that the presence of a cat helps regulate the population of certain pests such as rodents.
The association has about ten members who struggle with very limited resources. Because it is the association that covers the costs of sterilization, and it is not trivial. “The sterilization of a woman costs 200 euros…” explains Laurence Bostvironnois. Its only income comes from the donations it receives or grants from the municipalities. But at the moment only Taupont and Les Forges pay small subsidies. However, the needs are significant, especially in certain districts of Ploërmel. “Since the health crisis related to COVID, we have registered an explosion in abandonments. These are animals that have not been sterilized, and this reinforces the phenomenon…” she explains. Year after year, the association, which operates in Ploërmel and Taupont sector, about twenty adoptions and a dozen sterilizations with only two foster families. Regarding the reaction of residents who feed stray cats, she notes that people are caring and that although this gesture is prohibited, “there is the law and the reality of what is happening on earth”.
To try to stop the phenomenon, the association focuses on education and carries out information activities at schools and colleges. “We need to talk about this problem with children…”, believes Laurence Bostvironnois. But there is urgency. And she is launching a new appeal for donations and host families to help her in her task, which is ultimately in the public interest…
If you want to help the Coup de Paws association:
Contact via email by clicking here
On Hello asso by clicking here
What happens after capture?
The mayor has the captured cats sterilized. At the same time, the vet carries out a health check of the animal in accordance with the health policy established with the animal welfare association. The mayor has identified them. This can only be an approved identification process, supplemented by a visible mark on the animal (eg notch on the ear) that allows monitoring of the colony. The animals are sent back to their place of capture: they may not be seized for adoption. The management, health monitoring and keeping conditions of these populations that have achieved the status of “free cats” are the responsibility of the municipality and the association’s representative.
