Bristol Borough Council delayed a vote last week to ban residents from feeding feral cats.
The council is going to look at fine tuning the ordinance that was set to be voted on this month.
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As LevittownNow.com reported last month, the ordinance would ban feeding of feral cats.
Numerous residents spoke on the issue during public comment.
A woman who lives on Mansion Street said she was fine with an ordinance, but advocated for changing it to “prohibit the feeding of unmanaged and unkempt colonies of cats.” She said that language is similar to that in nearby towns and Philadelphia and would not punish people who trying to help the cats.
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Another resident suggested the council focus on “slum lords” and not policing those who feed cats.
“You are not doing your jobs, but really, you’re going to pick on the damn cats,” she said.
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Joanne Nitterour, a Bensalem Township resident who helps trap cats, said the borough should look at low-cost options to neuter cats. She said Bensalem Township even offers grants to help organizations afford low-cost spay and neuter.
Nitterour said the cats are feral and can’t be adopted out. The outdoors is their home.
Robert Zuick, a resident of Bristol Township’s Croydon section who wore a hat that read “Cat People,” suggested the borough look at trapping some of the cats.
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“I have found wonderful homes for these cats,” he said, citing some adoption success stories. “I just can’t say don’t feed the cats.”
One resident who deals with feral cats said they have been leaving their waste everywhere on her property and her grandkids even tell her it smells like cat pee.
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“It smells like crap,” she said.
Another man asked the borough to be proactive with monitoring places the cats live, like an empty house that has become a haven for feral cats.
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Residents spoke of outdoor yard furniture being ruined by the cats.
Norman Kunz, a Bristol Borough resident who maintains a cat colony, defended people who keep up with feral cat colonies, which council members said they did not mind.
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Councilman Greg Pezza said the problem is really being caused by “maybe 10 cats” in a problem area.
Bristol Borough Council President Ralph DiGuiseppe said the problem is throughout the borough.
DiGuiseppe said the borough will rework the ordinance and try to make it more targeted at problematic behavior that is spurring the feral cat problem.
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“We’re going to talk about a solution that everyone is happy with,” he said.
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