Camp Ellis’ wild cat population must be left to nature.

The coexistence of humans and animals has always been tenuous at best, and it’s now come to a head in Camp Ellis, where the population of wild cats has led to a neighborhood dispute.

The City of Saco is asking for a court decision to determine if it should have any involvement in the situation, in which one neighbor is suing the other over the issue of feeding the wild cats in the area. The number of cats isn’t clear, with estimates ranging from 11 to “dozens.”

The owners of Wormwoods Restaurant allegedly feed these cats, which have been described as “wild” ”“ neither feral nor domesticated ”“ and their neighbors, the Bourques, are complaining about the nuisance and a decrease in their property value.

Two years ago, 61 of the Camp Ellis cats were rounded up in a trap/neuter/release program and 24 were released back into the area, according to Eleanor Saboski, a volunteer with Friends of Feral Felines. The cats were tested, vaccinated for rabies and spayed or neutered. Saboski said she believes the cats serve an important purpose of keeping the rat population in check in this harbor section of the city.

We hope the city can help these neighbors come to an agreement on the matter, at a mediation session on Aug. 21, and keep this issue out of court for the good of all involved.

We feel this issue should be treated as would any other wild animal complaint, since these cats are clearly not regarded as the average “strays.” All animals, including us, serve a purpose in chain of life and death and these cats are no different. They have a long history of keeping the rat population down in this harbor and there are no complaints as to whether they’re still doing their job.

The problem is clearly the feeding and the number of cats that it attracts.

If these cats are considered wild, let’s compare them with other wild animals. If your neighbor was feeding the skunks so that the skunk population in your small neighborhood grew to 10 or more, would you be happy about it? What about bears, raccoons or foxes? Doesn’t seem like such a good idea to be handing out scraps to wild animals anymore, does it? In fact, feeding wild animals is banned or even outlawed in many areas.

There’s a difference between a couple houses on the street having outdoor cats and a restaurant attracting and feeding a multitude of wild cats. While most of us are willing to put up with a cat or two in a suburban neighborhood, it’s hard to believe that even the most devout cat lovers among us wouldn’t complain if an entire colony of them were running around. It’s also easier to accept a couple dozen wild cats roaming around a rural area, hunting in the woods and fields, than it is to live with that many of them in the tightly populated area of the coastline.

Yes, they kill rats, but they also kill birds, can ruin plants and often make horrific noises during late night fights. While their feces might not pose serious health risks to humans, it’s still an unpleasant surprise on your lawn or in your garden; and cats themselves can carry disease and transmit tickborne illnesses.

And it’s important to remember that not all the cats in the area are part of the trap/neuter/release program ”“ some are left behind by careless summer residents and those can breed and spread rabies, too.

Like any other wild animal, too many is not a good thing for any of the parties involved. When populated areas have too many deer, bow hunters are called in to cull the population. It’s for the good of the deer, whose food supply would run too thin with so many mouths to feed, and for the humans coexisting with them, whose threat of Lyme Disease, car accidents and yard damage would climb.

It seems there will always be, and indeed should be, cats in Camp Ellis, but with such a tightly populated area, a couple dozen is probably too many, for both the cats and the humans.

Our suggestion would be for the city to stay on top of the spay/neuter/release program and keep the cat population under control. When it gets to the point that lawsuits are being filed, the city should address it as it would any other wild animal overpopulation. It should set out humane traps for these cats, catch a few, and turn them over to an animal shelter or relocate them to a rural area to keep the cat population manageable.

And those who have taken to feeding these cats should reconsider, acknowledge that these are wild animals, and let nature provide. If we allow nature to give the area balance without interference, the rat population will be kept in check and the cat population won’t be unmanageable.

Ӣ Ӣ Ӣ

Today’s editorial was written by Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski, representing the majority opinion of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Kristen by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.