![\"feral](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/oakcliffcat2web-e1771362222545.webp.jpeg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tA large population of free-roaming felines call the Bishop Arts District home.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tA large population of free-roaming felines call the Bishop Arts District home.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Nathan Hunsinger<\/p>\n
It has been nearly a year since we wrote of the Bishop Arts battle waged between a businessman and the neighborhood\u2019s feline advocates.<\/a> An armistice was brokered last fall, and the cats of Oak Cliff have presumably lived peacefully ever since.\u00a0<\/p>\n But the dispute shone a light on the gaps in Dallas\u2019 code and policies that left community cats and business owners alike<\/a> exposed. Now, the city council may consider policy amendments that define the role of community cats across town and offer guidance to property owners dealing with the felines.\u00a0<\/p>\n Community cats are outdoor cats that range from friendly to feral. What makes a free-roaming feline a community cat is the existence of a community member who cares for it. These volunteers can leave food, water and shelter outside for the cat, and in highly populated areas like Bishop Arts, some individuals have begun maintaining colonies of the animals.\u00a0<\/p>\n The cat colonies are typically made up of kitties that have gone through Dallas\u2019 pilot Trap Neuter and Return (TNR) program, which helps prevent additional cats from being born by relying on methods other than euthanasia for population control. Animal advocates say TNR is the most humane and effective way to manage feral cat populations, as removing the animals from an area completely only creates a vacuum that other animals, such as possums or raccoons, move into.<\/p>\n In a briefing to the council\u2019s Quality of Life committee<\/a> Tuesday morning, Paul Ramon, director of Dallas Animal Services, outlined suggested policy changes, including explicitly defining community cats and community cat colonies in the Dallas city code for the first time. The new ordinance amendments would also clarify property owners\u2019 rights regarding cats in the area and make it an offense to trap a community cat with the intent to relocate or euthanize it.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis would help define those guidelines for those who are trapping and those who are property owners as far as what they can and cannot do, because right now it\u2019s unclear to them,\u201d said Council member Chad West. \u201cThat was part of the issue we ran into; there is nothing [in the city\u2019s code] right now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Last year, when the Observer reported on the dispute between cat rescuer Lisa Dennis and developer David Spence, Dennis accused Spence of trapping Bishop Arts\u2019 community cats in cages and relocating the felines to Grand Prairie. When we asked Dallas Animal Services and a handful of other experts whether that relocation would be considered illegal under state<\/a> or local law, no one knew the answer.\u00a0 <\/p>\n The city also didn\u2019t know how many colonies actually exist in Dallas, despite Dallas Animal Services offering an online colony application that asks for a manager\u2019s contact information and details about the colony\u2019s location and size. In a statement, the department said it was \u201ccurrently working on\u201d strengthening the program.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to Tuesday\u2019s presentation, Dallas Animal Services has historically dealt with community cats by the thousands.\u00a0 <\/p>\n Between August 2023 and September 2025, nearly 8,500 service requests for feral community cats were submitted to the department. Of those requests, nearly 36% came from just five ZIP codes across the city. Department data suggest that southern and central Dallas have the highest number of community cat-related requests.\u00a0<\/p>\n