It’s a real catfight.
The National Park Service has hatched a controversial plan to oust hundreds of stray cats that roam Puerto Rico’s historic seaside capital — drawing heat from cat lovers, who say the felines are “one of the wonders of Old San Juan.”
The fur is flying over the fate of about 200 cats, some believed to be descended from colonial-era kittens, who the feds say have become a nuisance while others call them a national treasure.
“These cats are unique to San Juan,” said Danna Wakefield, a solar contractor who visits the San Juan cats every week.
“Me and many other people love that walk because of the cats,” she said. “Otherwise it would be a very boring walk.”
The cats call the 75-acre historic site surrounding Puerto Rico’s famed “El Morro” fortress home and have become so much part of the tourist landscape that there’s a statue in their honor erected in the capital city.
But the park service, which has stewed over the issue for years, this week announced a six-month plan to trap the cats, calling the furry felines a nuisance and “inconsistent with the cultural landscape.”
“All visitors will benefit from the removal of a potential disease vector from the park,” the federal agency said in a statement announcing the plan on Tuesday.
The park service raised the issue about two years ago, citing “encounters between visitors and cats and the smell of urine and feces,” and last year held hearings on whether to boot the cats or not.
“The situation that these animals experience at the park, specifically at the Paseo del Morro, is not ideal for them and is inconsistent with National Park Service policies regarding the feeding of animals and invasive species,” agency Superintendent Myrna Palfrey said in October 2022.
This week, the feds announced it would opt to get rid of the cats, with existing feeding stations to be removed unless they include a trap to catch the felines.
The agency will then designate an animal welfare group to decide what to do with the trapped cats, be it adoption or placement in a shelter — and to deal with cats that can’t be reeled in.
The nonprofit group Save a Gato, which currently helps care for the clowder of cats, questioned whether the plan is even doable with so many feline lives hanging in the balance.
“Anyone who has worked with cats knows that is impossible,” said Ana Maria Salicrup, secretary of the Save a Gato board. “They are setting us up for failure.”
Alicrup also called it unrealistic to think the agency can find space for so many cats in local homes and area animal shelters.
“The response always is, ‘You cannot bring 100 cats here,” she said.
With Post wires