(a)   Community cat colonies shall be permitted and community cat colony caretakers shall be entitled to maintain and care for community cats by providing food, water, shelter and other forms of sustenance.

(b)   Community cat caretakers will notify the City, by contacting the City Clerk’s office, of the approximate location and number of animals, if known, in addition to the caretaker’s contact information. Community cat caretakers must cooperate with the City in the trap, neuter and return program.

(c)   The City may, at its discretion, trap community cat colonies for neuter and return pursuant to the Trap, Neuter, Return (TNR) program. Cats trapped in these efforts shall be housed for a minimum period of three business days during which the City shall advertise the photos of the trapped cats prior to sterilization/neuter. Thereafter, the neutered cats will be returned in the same vicinity as they were trapped.

(d)   No person may knowingly poison or cause to be poisoned, or cause the destruction by any other means, of a community cat.

(Ord. 1466)

The City or its designee, in order to encourage the stabilization of the community at population in Ellis, Kansas, shall have the following rights:

(a)   The right to trap in a humane manner and remove any cats that:

(1)   Have not been vaccinated against rabies or which are demonstrating signs of the disease;

(2)   Are not spayed or neutered;

(3)   For public health or public safety concerns.

(b)   If a community cat is demonstrating signs of having rabies, or has an illness or injury that presents an imminent danger to the public health or safety, or to its own person, that cat shall be humanely destroyed.

(c)   The right to remove a community cat that is creating a nuisance.

(Ord. 1466)