CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA - A Brevard County trapper who was hired by a community to deal with their feral cat problem is under fire from animal advocates.
Wildlife trapper James Dean was hired just last week by the Seaport Oceanfront Condominium Association to remove seven feral cats from their property.
“They were spraying BBQ grills, their cars, their front doors,” said Dean.
The cats were also attracting other wilder animals like raccoons.
Soon after, Dean himself felt like the hunted, at least on social media.
A Facebook thread was started, and rumors began swirling that he was trapping the cats to kill them.
“Like myself, the association doesn’t want these cats killed,” he said.
The trapper put out 13 traps. The next morning he found out three had been so damaged, they had to be thrown out.
The original thread poster was Rachel Smith, an animal rights advocate from New York.
“When I first heard on Facebook that a condo complex in Florida hired a trapper to remove a colony of cats, I was enraged and feared for their safety,” Smith said. “What would he do to these cats?”
When the word quickly began to spread, she decided to call the trapper herself and get to the truth.
“She was a spokesperson for a rescue group, and for feral cats,” said Dean.
Smith has apologized to Dean, and went a step, further sending out this statement:
“He reported to me that his property has been damaged, he has received numerous harassing phone calls and has even lost work because rumors are running rampant, especially on social media. I feel terrible for him because I had witnessed this for myself and it’s a shame.”
The condo association also sent out a notice to squash the rumors that the cats were being killed.
“He’s just getting them out of here,” said resident Ed Walker.
Condo complex residents say that it should never have gotten to this level.
“These cats could pass on a disease to a human, I’m just glad they are being taken care of,” Walker said.
“They like the fact they are going to a group to get the health care that they need,” said Dean.
Hell hath no fury like cat people when the claws come out to defend cats!