![\"El](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.animals24-7.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Picsart_25-04-18_21-27-08-065-e1745036869972.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/p>\n(Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n SAN JUAN,\u00a0 Puerto Rico;\u00a0 WARREN,\u00a0 Vermont;\u00a0 NEW YORK CITY\u2013\u2013<\/strong>El Morro,\u00a0 formally the Castillo de San Felipe,\u00a0 guarding the entrance to San Juan harbor,\u00a0 Puerto Rico since 1589,\u00a0 has survived at least seven sieges,\u00a0 from a 1595 British attack by Francis Drake to the final surrender during the 1898 Spanish-American War that made Puerto Rico a U.S. possession.<\/p>\n None of those many battles,\u00a0 however,\u00a0 appears to have been fiercely contested for longer than the Battle of the Cats,\u00a0 recently re-escalated by the latest of a multi-year series of legal actions by Alley Cat Allies against the U.S. National Park Service,\u00a0 managing El Morro as a museum since 1961.<\/p>\n (National Park Service photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Explains Wikipedia,\u00a0 \u201cThe fort is home to a resident colony of around 200 stray cats that are believed to have been descended from cats introduced either during colonial times or in the mid-20th century as part of rat eradication programs.<\/p>\n \u201cFollowing concerns over an increase in their population, \u00a0in 2023 the National Park Service announced it would contract an animal welfare organization to remove the cats and threatened to hire a pest control agency if it were to fail.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, \u00a0the plan was suspended following a lawsuit by animal welfare groups in 2024.\u201d<\/p>\n Map of El Morro.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/em>(Beth Clifton collage based on National Park Service image.)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n National Park Service policy is to discourage any presence of non-native species on park properties.\u00a0 Cats,\u00a0 though present at El Morro for at least 400 years,\u00a0 are officially non-native,\u00a0 but despite the mandate that might have been invoked to exterminate or at least expel them,\u00a0 were easily ignored by generations of National Park Service managers as cheap rat control.<\/p>\n This changed,\u00a0 gradually,\u00a0 beginning more than 25 years ago,\u00a0 after cat feeders,\u00a0 some purporting to practice neuter\/return cat population control,\u00a0 habitually left food on site,\u00a0 especially along El Paseo,\u00a0 the central road through El Morro,\u00a0 that distracted the cats from nocturnal rat-hunting and instead became a visible attractant to the rats the cats were expected to kill.<\/p>\n Neuter\/return,\u00a0 practiced without feeding,\u00a0 might have eventually reduced the cat population to diurnal invisibility.\u00a0 Instead,\u00a0 as often occurs in public places,\u00a0 feeding made the cats,\u00a0 with cat urine and defecation,\u00a0 a conspicuous nuisance.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Eventually,\u00a0 at least partially under pressure from birders,\u00a0 the National Park Service in 2022-2023 developed a Free Ranging Cat Management Plan that called for ousting the cats,\u00a0 alive or dead.<\/p>\n \u201cThe selected alternative,\u201d\u00a0 the National Park Service announced, \u00a0\u201cwill include continued trapping and removal efforts by an animal welfare organization, \u00a0removal of all feeding stations in the park, \u00a0monitoring, \u00a0and additional removal efforts if deemed necessary.<\/p>\n \u201cTo reduce the potential for pet abandonment in the park,\u201d\u00a0 the National Park Service continued, \u00a0\u201cthe San Juan National Historic Site will continue to close the entrance to the Paseo at night and have security guards present when the Paseo is open (under an agreement with the Puerto Rico Tourism Company).<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cTo provide additional security,\u201d\u00a0 the National Park Service added, \u00a0\u201cthe park is currently installing a new lighting system along the Paseo.\u00a0 The park will continue existing educational efforts through messaging that informs visitors of the issues associated with abandoning cats, \u00a0including abandonment in national park units.<\/p>\n \u201cAdditionally,\u00a0 it will increase educational efforts through additional messaging,\u00a0 addressing the reasons cats cannot be abandoned in the park, \u00a0and noting that the park does not provide food for abandoned cats.\u201d<\/p>\n The National Park Service plan did not allow for any continued neuter\/return work,\u00a0 both in keeping with the national mandate to discourage non-native species and because neuter\/return had become extensively misused as a pretext by feeders for keeping outdoor pets.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Alley Cat Allies sued.\u00a0 Implementation of the National Park Service plan was suspended in September 2024 pending resolution of the lawsuit.<\/p>\n That has not happened yet.\u00a0 Meanwhile,\u00a0 on April 8,\u00a0 2025,\u00a0 Alley Cat Allies introduced an argument that the \u201cNational Park Service\u2019s certification of its administrative record as complete regarding its plan to remove and kill cats in San Juan, Puerto Rico, \u00a0was false\u201d because \u201cthe organization uncovered that the National Park Service excluded hundreds of public comments from the record.\u201d<\/p>\n As the case meanders on,\u00a0 \u201ccats of all colors and sizes continue to prowl the trails bordering deep turquoise waters that surround El Morro, \u00a0and they even have a statue honoring them nearby,\u201d\u00a0 reports Da\u00f1ica Coto of Associated Press,\u00a0 while \u201cA local nonprofit, \u00a0Save a Gato, \u00a0feeds, \u00a0spays and neuters the cats, \u00a0and places them into adoption.\u201d<\/p>\n Stacy LeBaron.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Concurrently with all that,\u00a0 United Spay Alliance recently published Free-Roaming Cat Management:\u00a0 A Funder\u2019s Guide to Better Impact<\/em>,\u00a0 commissioned by the Summerlee Foundation,\u00a0 co-authored by John Boone,\u00a0 Ph.D., \u00a0and Stacy LeBaron.<\/p>\n Boone lists as credentials his affiliations with the Alliance for Contraception in Cats & Dogs, \u00a0Humane World for Animals (formerly the Humane Society of the U.S.),\u00a0 and the Great Basin Bird Observatory.<\/p>\n LeBaron,\u00a0 best known as director of the Community Cats Podcast,\u00a0 is also a cofounder of the United Spay Alliance,\u00a0 and in 1992 cofounded the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society,\u00a0 operating one of the oldest and most successful feral cat neuter\/return projects in the world.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Pointed out Boone and LeBaron in introducing Free-Roaming Cat Management,\u00a0 <\/em>\u201cTrap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs have been promoted and pursued for decades by animal welfare organizations as the method of choice for humane management of free-roaming cats, \u00a0sometimes (but not always) with the explicit goal of reducing their numbers over time.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, \u00a0TNR implementation has not mirrored other animal welfare priorities in terms of funding, \u00a0scale, \u00a0intensity, \u00a0or consistency. \u00a0Instead, \u00a0it is often a volunteer-based activity that is conducted without the full benefits of institutional support or synergies with other programmatic initiatives.<\/p>\n \u201cWithout question,\u201d\u00a0 Boone and LeBaron agree,\u00a0 \u00a0citing a thick stack of peer-reviewed studies,\u00a0 \u201cTNR as currently practiced reduces the number of births in free-roaming cat populations, \u00a0eliminates the suffering and premature death associated with those births,\u00a0 and improves the health and lifespan of sterilized cats.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIn localized areas, \u00a0TNR has also been shown to reduce free-roaming cat numbers if conducted with sufficient intensity and duration. \u00a0TNR also provides sheltering organizations with an alternative to intake and thereby reduces shelter euthanasia rates and shelter crowding.<\/p>\n \u201cIn all these senses,\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0Boone and LeBaron assess,\u00a0 \u201cTNR can viably be said to \u2018work.\u2019 However, \u00a0the extent to which TNR performed to date has changed the fundamental characteristics of the free-roaming cat system at scale or mitigated the root causes of FRC persistence is far less certain. Indeed, \u00a0most local free-roaming cat populations\u2013\u2013including many that are the subject of at least some TNR intervention\u2013\u2013seem to maintain themselves at or near their current densities,\u00a0 with TNR functioning more as a form of palliative care than as a change agent.\u201d<\/p>\n This is more-or-less a short summary of the situation at El Morro in San Juan,\u00a0 as well as at hundreds and perhaps thousands of other locations where neuter\/return has not reduced conflicts resulting from the presence of cats,\u00a0 or at least too many cats,\u00a0 where for whatever reason cats are not wanted.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Recommend Boone and LeBaron in Free-Roaming Cat Management,\u00a0 <\/em>\u201cIn order to produce significant population declines over time as efficiently as possible,\u00a0 free-roaming cat management should incorporate four critical elements: \u00a0integration, \u00a0targeting, \u00a0duration, \u00a0and basic cat counting.<\/p>\n \u201cIntegration involves combining several \u2018layers\u2019 of effort that support and reinforce one another,\u201d\u00a0 Boone and LeBaron explain.<\/p>\n \u201cAn example,\u201d\u00a0 Boone and LeBaron offer, \u00a0\u201cmight be combining neuter\/return with removal for adoption, \u00a0spay\/neuter subsidies for owned indoor\/outdoor cats, \u00a0and a coordinated feeding program.\u00a0 Integration is our best tool for overcoming the multiple pathways by which cats can be added to a free-roaming cat population.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cTargeting,\u201d\u00a0 Boone and LeBaron continue, \u00a0\u201cinvolves concentrating effort in a series of phased steps. \u00a0The most common example is performing intensive TNR in a well-defined subset of the overall project area to rapidly reach high sterilization percentages before moving on to a neighboring area, \u00a0but the targeting concept can apply to other elements of integrated management as well. \u00a0Targeting is our best tool for reducing the risk of the \u2018backsliding\u2019 that can occur when a TNR effort has to work against the counterforce of reproduction by the remaining intact cats, \u00a0immigration, and abandonment.<\/p>\n \u201cProject duration is critical,\u201d\u00a0 Boone and LeBaron state,\u00a0 meaning that TNR effort must be sustained, \u00a0\u201cbecause free-roaming cat populations respond to sterilization-based management slowly, even when it is well-targeted. \u00a0If the management effort stops prematurely, \u00a0any progress made can quickly come undone.<\/p>\n \u201cFinally, \u201c\u00a0 Boone and LeBaron mention,\u00a0 \u201csimple, \u00a0periodic cat counting tells us in \u2018near real time\u2019 what is working and what is not,\u00a0 while it is still possible to course-correct. \u00a0The best example is using basic cat counts to estimate sterilization percentage, \u00a0which provides critical and immediately actionable information about the sufficiency of effort.\u201d<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage\/ Hiro Yamasaki photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Of note:\u00a0 ANIMALS 24-7 <\/strong>in 1992 included,\u00a0 and indeed emphasized, \u00a0all but one of the Boone\/LeBaron recommendations in each of the first three articles describing neuter\/return technique published in nationally distributed media in the United States.<\/p>\n ANIMALS 24-7 <\/strong>did not recommend introducing \u201ca coordinated feeding program\u201d because if cats are present somewhere,\u00a0 they will,\u00a0 like any other resident wildlife,\u00a0 already have adequate food sources;\u00a0 adding more will only tend to attract more cats,\u00a0 and change cat behavior from hunting mainly rodents at night to waiting for feedings by day,\u00a0 hunting birds for sport.<\/p>\n ANIMALS 24-7 <\/strong>did,\u00a0 however,\u00a0 encourage TNR practitioners to identify cat-feeders already active in locations with problematic free-roaming cats,\u00a0 to enlist their help in trapping and counting cats.<\/p>\n Sally the cat in the late AnnaBell Washburn\u2019s New York City apartment overlooking United Nations Plaza.\u00a0 (See Cat rescuer & advocate AnnaBell Washburn, 90, had global influence<\/a>.)<\/strong><\/em> Also concurrent with the Battle of the Cats at El Morro,\u00a0 Coalition for NYC Animals founder Elizabeth Forel on April 15,\u00a0 2025 emailed to members that the New York City Council budget recommendations for the next fiscal year include $1.5 million \u201cfor a citywide initiative to provide resources, \u00a0support, \u00a0and assistance for TNR in partnership with non-profit community-based animal rescue organizations,\u201d\u00a0 to \u201cprovide spay and neuter surgeries for over 8,000 animals annually.\u201d<\/p>\n Objected Forel,\u00a0 \u201cThis proposal only refers to cats who are trapped by TNR rescuers.\u00a0 It does not include any dogs, \u00a0and it does not include the many residents of New York City who cannot afford the high costs of spay\/neuter.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not just those who do TNR who need funding for spay\/neuter,\u201d\u00a0 Forel wrote.\u00a0 \u201cCats who are not part of TNR rescue and dogs get pregnant and have litters also!\u201d<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Charged Forel,\u00a0 \u201c70-75% of the animals coming into Animal Care & Control are intact.\u00a0 Many have come from homes.\u00a0 It is not unusual for someone to surrender two intact cats\u2013\u2013male and female\u2013\u2013and provide information about their previous litters\u2013\u2013cats they gave away who were also not fixed.\u00a0 Sometimes, \u00a0it is many cats\u2013\u2013all related and all intact who get dumped; \u00a0or the stray but friendly dog on the street who is pregnant.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy is this?\u00a0 One reason ,\u201d\u00a0 Forel suggested,\u00a0 \u201cis that the cost of spaying or neutering a cat or dog in New York City is much too costly for many people.\u00a0 $1,000 for a cat spay in Manhattan is common,\u00a0 while dogs cost more.\u00a0 The few clinics\u2013\u2013like Flatbush or the Humane Society of New York\u2013\u2013have long waiting lists.\u201d<\/p>\nLosing patience with cat-feeders,\u00a0 the National Park Service wants 200 cats gone<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nDispute even appears in Wikipedia history of El Morro<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nNational Park Service policy<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nFree Ranging Cat Management Plan<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nNew lighting system<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nAlley Cat Allies sued<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nJohn Boone & Stacy LeBaron<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cVolunteer-based activity\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cIntensity & duration\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cFour critical elements\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cTargeting\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nFeeding<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
(Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\nNew York City Council<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201c70-75% of the animals coming into Animal Care & Control are intact\u201d<\/h2>\n