Bucks County Officials, Volunteers Tackle Growing Cat Problem In Core Creek Park
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Officials and volunteers in Bucks County believe they have solved the cat problem that has plagued Core Creek Park in Middletown Township for years.
"We were surprised to find that there was well over 500 cats in the park," said Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia.
Thanks to a collaborative effort between humane organizations, Ellis-Marseglia says it took about a week to lure all those cats into humane traps that had been set throughout Core Creek Park.
"They were all neutered," she says. "And they all had chips put in their ears so our rangers could tell if it was one of our cats, and they had their ears clipped so that you'd be able to recognize them."
The majority of cats were abandoned domestics and have been put up for adoption. A little over a hundred pure feral cats have been returned to the park and are fed three times a day by trained volunteers. Ellis-Marseglia says the trick now is to keep the population down.
"There are signs up for people not to feed the cats," she said. "We installed cameras so that we can see what's happening."