Cat roundup planned after rabies found

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, N.J., Aug. 30 (UPI) -- A Jersey Shore beach resort plans to round up hundreds of feral cats following the discovery of rabies in cats and raccoons.

Point Pleasant Beach officials say only infected cats will be killed, the Asbury Park Press reported. Stray cats will be held for 60 days in cages in rented trailers for observation, and those found to be healthy will be vaccinated and neutered before being returned to the streets.

Kittens will be available for adoption.

The town is home to about 300 feral cats. Members of the city council say they are abandoned pets and their descendants and that local residents who provide food and water for colonies of feral cats aggravate the problem.

There have been three recent attacks by stray cats, two on children. In the third, a 17-year-old is getting rabies injections after he was bitten by a cat that tested positive for the disease.

Rabies is deadly unless it is treated before symptoms develop.