KITTIES IN CRISIS: Abandoned pets from closed trailer park overwhelm animal rescue volunteers

Regency Cat Fund designed to help both community -- and kitty -- health

COLUMBIA, 5/28/12 (Beat Byte) -- The Regency Trailer Court closure has another, quieter casualty: pets, particularly cats, left behind as residents of the defunct mobile home park move out en masse.

 

"The Regency Trailer Park story is tragic on so many levels," said animal rescue advocate Peggy Gray.  "It demonstrates how greed and irresponsibility have had a powerfully negative effect on our community."

 

Closed earlier this year after its sale to out-of-state investors, the mostly ramshackle trailer park has since been beset by fire and debris.  With few rentals allowing animals, family pets have been left behind.  

 

The park was also home to feral cats, another sign of long neglect by its owners and city officials.

 

"It is not going to be a safe place for animals with all the construction, and we are trying to find other places for them," said Spay, Neuter and Protect volunteer Christina McCullen.

SNAP -- Spay, Neuter, and Protect, a local animal rescue group -- has started a fund to help (click photo) the cats within the limits of Columbia's relatively new law on feral cat care, providing vaccinations, spaying, neutering, and other services important to community -- and kitty -- health. 

Among cats set for new homes is trailer park mascot Regency, "a laid-back lap cat who uses a litter box and is doing well in his foster home," McCullen explained. "Regency is super sweet.   He was so hungry when we found him, but was clearly a pet at one time. We neutered him and gave him a rabies vaccine."

 

To find out how you can help, check out SNAP online at:

http://www.snap-cats.org

Regency Cat Fund