Feral cats an issue for JFK airport

NEW YORK, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- An estimated 100 feral cats roaming New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport have created an animal rights dilemma for administrators.

Last month, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees the airport, ordered traps set for the cats, prompting complaints from animal rights groups that said it almost certainly meant death for the animals, as most are unadoptable.

Last week, the authority ordered the trapping suspended after 24 cats were caught on the airport's 5,000 acres, USA Today reported.

Susan Baer, general manager of the airport, said talks were ongoing with such groups as the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals and Neighborhood Cats.

Some groups advocate a system whereby captured cats are trapped, vaccinated for rabies, neutered and re-released. The system includes cropping off the tops of the animals' left ears to make them identifiable as previously captured, the report said.

Bryan Kortis, executive director of Neighborhood Cats, told the newspaper he's concerned if the airport resumes trapping, the animals will be euthanized since there's nowhere to place them.