Take A Closer Look: The Horrifying Number of Cats Killed by EBRPD
The East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) killing of cats in Martin Luther King Jr Regional Shoreline in late 2020 was far from an anomaly. Data from 2018 to 2020 provides a three-year snapshot of a policy of killing cats which has been in place for over 20 years. EBRPD and a subcontractor, a little-known agency that is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), killed a total of 34 cats in multiple shoreline parks along the San Francisco Bay.
We do not believe that killing one species to save another is right. And we are not alone in this view. Even in Hawaii, where there are a great many species found nowhere else in the world, over 70 percent of the public in a recent public opinion poll indicated that they support this statement: “Choosing to destroy one animal species to save another is inhumane and should not be allowed.”
Seeking Justice and Change
The numbers of cats killed by the EBRPD are hard to stomach. But it is critical that we keep this abhorrent, systematic cruelty firmly on our mindsand seek justice.
Other animals were found in the parks, including 17 dogs, 10 domestic rabbits, and one pig. None of these other animals were killed. Similarly, the lives of six kittens were spared. The fate of adult cats in the parks stands in stark contrast to the fates of the dogs, kittens, rabbits and pig.
Alley Cat Allies is taking action to end the lethal policies that allowed each of these 34 innocent lives, and many others, to be taken. The killing of cats in the East Bay Regional Park Districtor anywhereshould not be tolerated.
Please join us.
