(CNS): The Department of Environment’s feral cat control project has been stalled again by local animal rights charity Feline Friends as the Grand Court has granted a stay on the rollout of the National Conservation (Alien Species) Regulations. The non-profit organisation has run both a feeding and a trap-neuter-release programme on Grand Cayman for feral cats for over a decade but the new regulations prohibit both.

Represented by local attorney Sammy Jackson, the NPO has also been given the green light for a judicial review of the regulations that were drawn up to protect unique native species, such as indigenous iguanas and nesting sea birds, from feral cats that are killing them in significant numbers.

According to the legal challenge, the non-profit is arguing that the new rules exceed the scope of the National Conservation Act (NCA) as they go beyond the legislation, creating definitions that alter its intent and allowing people to humanly kill feral cats that pose a threat to nature. They also suggest the rules give the DoE director too much power, that the sanctions are disproportionately harsh, and that there was not enough consultation.

“It was unreasonable to authorize private persons to kill an animal they believe to be a feral alien species or genetically altered species under stated provisions of the Regulations,” Feline Friends state in their application for the judicial review.

“Neither the Cabinet nor the National Conservation Council was in possession of necessary independent scientific information/data to make a reasonable determination as to the need for and/or effect of the regulations,” it stated, adding that Cabinet had failed to take into consideration the views of the public.

The NPO also contends that the regulations are unconstitutional as they “threaten the unlawful interference with personal property rights”, such as having or feeding an animal at one’s own home.

On 4 April, Justice Marlene Carter, who granted the stay preventing the implementation of the regulations and allowing the judicial review application, said there was a case to argue for the relief sought by Feline Friends, which is to secure a declaration that the rules are unconstitutional.

The DoE has been battling animal rights charities and non-profits for years over its efforts to cull feral cats, which are known to be responsible for a significant decline in bird numbers, including local parrots and nesting sea birds. The department has also tried to discourage people from feeding stray cats.

Feral cats remain one of the main threats to indigenous blue and rock iguana hatchlings and other local reptiles, all of which are endangered species. This latest legal action will hinder efforts by the DoE to fulfil its key remit to protect Cayman’s endemic and native fauna.

PETA, one of the world’s leading animal rights advocacy groups, does not support the trap-neuter-release (TNR) programmes that Feline Friends is advocating as an alternative to culls. PETA states that release programmes are not in cats’ best interests.

“We have seen firsthand and have received countless reports that cats suffer and die gruesome deaths because they are abandoned to fend for themselves outdoors,” the organisation states on its website. “Having witnessed the painful deaths of countless feral cats, we cannot in good conscience advocate trapping, altering, and releasing as a humane way to deal with overpopulation and homelessness.”

See the Feline Friends application in the CNS Library and below.