Like Most Cities, Lafayette, Indiana, Is Swarming With Feral Cats

The good, feral cats of Lafayette, Indiana, are safe, after an ordinance passed Monday evening embraced the controversial Trap-Neuter-Return method of feral cat management rather than the quicker, dirtier alternative: euthanasia. In doing so, the midsize Midwestern city has stumbled into one of the world's greatest cat controversies: To kill or not to kill?

First, a bit about the new guidelines themselves. The ordinance will create a new (and fairly complicated) feral-cat bureaucracy: Only "Colony Caretakers" will be permitted to trap free-roaming cats and bring them to local animal organizations to be be neutered and then released back into the wild. And those caretakers can only begin their cat-terventions after being approved by "Colony Sponsors," or Animal Control-recognized animal organizations. Caretakers are also expected to monitor the health of their cat colonies. Anyone found caring for a colony without Colony Caretaker status will be fined between $50 and $250 per offense, though Lafayette City Council member Lauren Ahlersmeyer told the Lafayette Journal & Courier that the authorities will not "fine gratuitously, but but rather work with residents to make sure the program actually works."