FILE – A stray cat sits on a wall in Previous San Juan, Puerto Rico, Nov. 2, 2022. The nonprofit group Alley Cat Allies stated on March 28, 2024, that it sued the U.S. Nationwide Park Service over a plan to take away stray cats from the world surrounding this historic seaside fortress in Previous San Juan. (AP Photograph/Alejandro Granadillo, File)
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A nonprofit group stated Thursday that it sued the U.S. Nationwide Park Service over a plan to remove Puerto Rico’s famous stray cats from a historic district within the U.S. territory.
The lawsuit filed by Maryland-based Alley Cat Allies comes 4 months after the federal company introduced it might contract an animal welfare group to take away an estimated 200 cats that dwell in an space surrounding a historic seaside fortress in Previous San Juan.
The group would resolve whether or not the trapped cats can be adopted, positioned in foster properties, stored in a shelter or face different choices. It wasn’t instantly clear if a company has been employed.
On the time, the Nationwide Park Service stated it might rent a elimination company if the group it contracted didn’t take away the cats inside six months.
The company didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Vacationers and locals have lengthy thought of the cats each a delight and a nuisance, with the Nationwide Park Service stating in 2022 that the population had grown too much because it famous the scent of urine and feces within the space.
Activists have decried the plan, saying six months is inadequate time to take away so many cats and fearful they might be killed.
In its lawsuit, Alley Cat Allies requested further environmental statements from the federal company and requested {that a} decide finds its actions allegedly violate acts together with the Nationwide Environmental Safety Act.
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