RANDOLPH, Iowa, March 16 (UPI) -- An Iowa hamlet's solution to its feral cat problem -- trap and kill them -- has brought its officials unwanted attention.
Randolph, with a population of about 200 living in the middle of fields about 30 miles southwest of Omaha, attracted worldwide press attention when the city council offered a $5 bounty for trapped cats. The cats were to be killed when brought in, The Des Moines Register reported.
"There are four, five dozen cats living in town," Mayor Vince Trively said. "If we don't do something, eventually people will shoot them."
Feral cats like those in Randolph are descended from escaped or released pets. Growing up in the wild -- or at least on they streets -- they are not candidates for adoption and kill birds and small mammals.
Elsewhere, feral cat rescuers trap the animals, pay to have them neutered and then return them to their colonies, where the humans provide food. But Trively said that is no solution for Randolph.
"We're in a town of 200 people and I know every man, woman and child," he said. "People here are strapped just to buy propane to get through the winter. How can they afford to feed them?"
