Palmerton residents question feral cat fines

A Facebook post is starting to rehash conversations in Palmerton about the borough’s contentious cat ordinance enacted last year.

On Oct. 17, Humane Society Police Officer of Carbon County Donna Crum, whose Facebook profile is under the name Donna L. Becker, posted a picture of a citation listing a $122.25 fine for having a feral cat feeding station. Crum said the citation was given to a woman who approached her for advice.

Rather than pay the fine, Crum said she is looking into other options for the woman who received the citation.

Peter Luzzo, who was appointed as the animal enforcement officer by the Palmerton Borough Council during last Thursday’s meeting following Phil Bell’s resignation, said this was not the first citation administered for a feeding station since the ordinance took effect.

The citation prompted Crum to look further into the borough’s protocol for dealing with feral animals, specifically cats, as well as the legality of the ordinance itself.

The ordinance

The Palmerton council passed the ordinance in spring 2017. The ordinance bans the “feeding stations,” which the borough defined as “any area where food is supplied to animals in an open, unrestricted manner, allowing animals to come and go freely.”

The resolution also requires pet owners to register and license their animals, and to keep them within the confines of their own property.

In some areas, the ordinance is quite plain; owners must take responsibility for the animals licensed under their name, and residents are strictly prohibited from creating “conditions attractive to nuisance animals,” such as setting up feed stations.

But others aren’t so black and white. One section of the ordinance says impounded animals that go unclaimed after a five-day period “shall be destroyed in a humane manner,” but doesn’t give any more information beyond that.

Luzzo said that he doesn’t euthanize domestic animals, and that he won’t euthanize cats, feral or otherwise, unless they are injured or show signs of being rabid.

Typically, Luzzo said, he tries to catch cats, have them spayed or neutered, and relocates them to a local farmer who can let them roam free while still caring for them.

Borough President Terry Costenbader said last March that animals found at large will be posted on social media, and if unclaimed, sent to an animal shelter. In the last year only two cats have appeared on the borough’s Facebook page.

Crum said she’s doesn’t know what happened to either animal despite her inquires, but according to Costenbader, to his knowledge, those animals were relocated to a local farm and still reside there.

Crum also said that through numerous open record requests, she found 15 animal complaints filed under the borough’s current animal enforcement officer, none of which were for cats, that were all closed with an ambiguous phrase: “action taken.”

When questioned, Luzzo stressed he doesn’t euthanize an animal unless it is rabid, injured or attempting to harm him or others around the situation.

When questioned more recently about the ordinance, Costenbader reiterated the complexity of the issue, but ultimately made the point that as a borough council member, he has a responsibility to the community.

“When you’re dealing with the health, safety and welfare of the community, that’s the priority,” Costenbader said.

“I don’t know how to make everybody happy,” he said.

Feeding stations

While the borough’s ban on feeding stations is clear, to Crum, that stance forces residents to break the law.

Crum said that if a resident feeds a cat over a period of time, eventually it becomes their property.

As the humane officer, she can’t instruct owners not to feed their pets, a position she’s maintained since conversations about the ordinance began.

“The pulling up of all of the feeding stations would conflict with animal cruelty laws,” Crum said during a borough meeting last May.

“I, as a humane society police officer, have to make sure that anyone who has outdoor pets has access to food and water 24 hours a day.”

Crum also claimed that not feeding feral cats wouldn’t alleviate concerns like rabies or destruction of property that follow their inhabitance, but simply relocate them.

“It’s not solving a problem. What it’s going to do is it’s going to migrate these cats in other areas,” Crum said. “Compassion is not a crime, neglect is.”

Crum promised that she, alongside other animal rights advocates, is planning to attend a borough council meeting to address the ordinance and recent citation.

“We’re not giving up,” she said.