SAN ANTONIO — A dispute over a feral cat colony in downtown San Antonio is raising questions about what happens when stray cats are trapped and removed from private property and what Texas law allows.
The case involves a blind mother cat, her kittens, and a larger colony of feral cats living around a vacant building near Central Christian Church.
Blake, chief financial officer of Bear Den Sanctuary, said the blind mother was captured in a trap at the church. Blake, who asked FOX SA not to use her last name, said a church employee released the cat after learning she had kittens nearby that could die without her.
Blake said Bear Den Sanctuary got involved after a nearby resident contacted the organization about the colony. The woman later noticed the number of cats in the area appeared to be declining.
“Now there’s so many fewer cats. I don’t know what’s happening, but the numbers are dwindling, and there are traps out here, but they’re not for TNR,” Blake said. “I’m concerned that they’re dumping the cats.”
Blake said she then contacted the church’s childcare director.
Central Christian Church told FOX SA that cat droppings had been found on its childcare playground, creating health and safety concerns.
Blake said the childcare director told her the cats were not being killed but were instead being removed from the church property.
“She said, ‘No, no, we are not killing them. We’re just taking them out of the church and taking them miles and miles away so they can’t possibly come back,’” Blake said.
An email exchange between Blake and a senior church member also acknowledged that cats had been removed from traps and relocated.
“You did not receive a satisfactory answer from the gentleman who took the cats from the traps and relocated them,” the church representative wrote.
The senior church member said he would personally address the issue and call a meeting to rectify the situation.
Bear Den Sanctuary and the San Antonio Feral Cat Coalition later became involved.
“We absolutely needed to fix them all. And so that was our plan,” Blake said. “I went with a volunteer from the San Antonio Feral Cat Coalition. We talked to the pastor, and we presented a plan.”
What Texas law says
Texas law addresses both animal abandonment and trap-neuter-return programs.
Under the Texas Penal Code, a person commits an offense if the person “unreasonably abandons an animal in the person’s custody.” The law’s definition of an animal includes a “stray or feral cat.”
Whether relocating a trapped feral cat constitutes criminal abandonment depends on the circumstances, including where the animal was taken and what arrangements were made for its care.
The offense is generally a Class A misdemeanor. Repeat convictions that qualify can elevate the charge to a state jail felony.
Texas law also specifically defines a trap-neuter-return, or TNR, program.
Under the law, a TNR program involves trapping a feral cat, evaluating it, vaccinating it against rabies, sterilizing it, and marking it to show it has been sterilized.
The law also requires that the cat be returned to the location where it was trapped, or to another location in accordance with applicable law.
Simply trapping a cat and taking it somewhere else does not, by itself, constitute TNR.
Church responds
Central Christian Church provided FOX SA with a statement about the situation.
“The stray cats were humanely handled by the agency including capture, neutering and finding the stray cats a home. The church is sorry for any misinformation that circulated on this situation,” the statement said.
The church said it had concerns about returning the cats to the property because of the childcare playground. According to the church, it offered to pay for services, and nonprofit organizations eventually moved the cats.
The statement does not identify the organization the church referenced, specify where the cats were taken, or explain what happened to the cats that Blake says were initially removed from the property.
Blake said she does not know where those cats were taken or whether they survived.
“There’s a hundred different things they could have done instead of doing what was illegal and inhumane,” Blake said. “It’s a death sentence for those cats who are trapped and dumped.”
Blake’s characterization that the conduct was illegal is her allegation. FOX SA has not independently established that a crime occurred.
The blind mother cat is now living at Bear Den Sanctuary. Her kittens are with foster families, and the organization hopes to find them permanent homes.
Bear Den Sanctuary said the remaining cats in the downtown colony have now been spayed or neutered.