OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — When an Osceola County man lost his wife six months ago, she left him with a broken heart and a job: to feed the two-dozen feral cats that have hung around their home for decades.
“She lived for these cats,” the man, who asked us not to use his name, said.
>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<
For months, he has been keeping true to his wife’s wishes, feeding the cats twice a day, paying $500 a month to keep them fed.
He said he’s afraid if he stops feeding them, they’ll die.
But now, at 87, the day-to-day is taking a toll.
Read: Boy, 13, bit by alligator in Seminole County calls 911: ‘It just stings a little bit’
“I can’t do this much longer,” he said. “I don’t mind doing it. It gives me a purpose, and I enjoy them munching, but when have to sell this house, I have to tell these people you are going to wind up with a bunch of cats.”
The problem he said is an ordinance passed back in 2018 that has feral cats trapped, neutered and returned under a community cats grant. It’s a model used around the country to keep the cats from being euthanized.
Read: 30-foot hole opens up in front of Ocala home, residents evacuated
Instead, it stops them from breeding and filling up the shelters by allowing them to live in the community. But he said it’s not working.
“Don’t just fix them and send them out,” he said. “That only attracts more cats, and the problem lies with people like us, the people who are compassionate.”
Read: Missing Titanic tourist sub: Underwater noises detected again as search continues
Osceola County Animal Services Kim Staton said she is aware of the large number of cats that come to the home every day, and that a team will come out and assess the situation soon, and likely start by trapping the cats and fixing them.
Some, she said, they will try to adopt out. Others can be part of a program that sends them to farms to keep down the rodent problem, and some will go back to the area.
Read: Cloud surfing: Wave-live clouds spotted in Space Coast skies
But in some cases, she said, it’s possible some they may have to be put down.
But the man said he worries there may be no other option because no one else should have to take this problem on.
“That is insanity,” he said. “Why would anyone commit themselves to the responsibility like this?”
Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
©2023 Cox Media Group
