A cull of feral cats on Little Cayman resumed this month after government and local animal charities came to an agreement almost four years after a plan to control the island’s cat population was stalled, due to a legal challenge brought by the charities to stop the animals being killed.
The large population of feral cats on the island has been threatening endemic wildlife there, including endangered birds and iguanas.
The Department of Environment and Department of Agriculture had planned to begin culling the felines in 2018, but that was halted after animal welfare charities Feline Friends and the Cayman Islands Humane Society applied for a judicial review. At the time, a judge placed a temporary injunction on the cull until the judicial review was carried out.
In a press release issued on Wednesday afternoon, the government confirmed that the cat control operations in Little Cayman had resumed earlier this month, after the animal charities agreed to close the matter through payment of their legal costs, which amounted to CI$25,000.
The release stated that Cabinet had approved the settlement “to ensure invasive species management in the Sister Islands could resume in earnest”.
Chief Officer in the Ministry of Sustainability and Climate Resiliency, Jennifer Ahearn, said in the release that the control measures are essential to protecting threatened native and endemic fauna in the Sister Islands from the threat of predation, competition and hybridisation.
“At the heart of this matter is the urgent need to protect vulnerable species – such as the Red-Footed Booby and the endemic Sister Islands Rock Iguana – from going extinct because of invasive predators,” she said. “A protracted battle through the Courts would have only prolonged the suffering of our native species and the feral cats while amounting significant legal fees for all parties.”
She added, “We respect the important work our local animal welfare charities do to prevent animal suffering and reduce the number of homeless pets in our community. This settlement allows Government to close out this matter so our environmental experts can progress our conservation aims in the Sister Islands.”
In response to a request for comment from the Compass, the Humane Society issued a statement saying that, as a result of it seeking a judicial review, the Cayman Islands government had changed the law to prescribe specific poisons to conduct culling of wild cats in a legal, humane way.
It said it had “reviewed the processes that the Department of Environment and Department of Agriculture have advised they will employ during their endeavours to control the wild cat population on Little Cayman. We look forward to working with Government to help ensure that the trapping and euthanasia of wild cats are conducted responsibly and humanely. For this purpose, observations will be carried out by a Humane Society representative during Government’s cat control campaigns.”
It added that, through this collaboration, the charity “aims to avoid any unnecessary suffering to wild animals and to help ensure that the Cayman Islands Government makes all reasonable efforts to exclude people’s pets from their culling activities”.
The Humane Society also noted that, at this time, it had not been advised by government of any plans to cull feral cats in Cayman Brac or Grand Cayman.
Trapping the animals
In May this year, a team for the DoE and DoA held a public meeting with residents of Little Cayman to inform them of their plans. They also carried out a campaign, through posters, social media and door-to-door visits, to invite all cat owners to register their pets, which were then microchipped.
After the agreement was signed between the government and the charities this month, a team from the Department of Environment and Department of Agriculture travelled to Little Cayman to register and microchip pet cats, prior to beginning the feral cat control operations.
Between 6-12 June, the team carried out six nights of trapping. Among the cats caught in the traps were four pet cats that were returned to their owners.
“All trapped cats were carefully scanned in the trap to verify their identity. Registered pet cats which were trapped, scanned for a microchip and had their identity verified, were released back to their owner’s care,” the release stated.
Director of the Department of Environment Gina Ebanks-Petrie, giving a report on the culling programme to the National Conservation Council at a meeting on Wednesday, said the DoA’s senior veterinary officer euthanised 35 feral cats, using injected drugs, during the six-day period.
Highlighting the likelihood of the feral cat population continuing to grow if left uncontrolled, Ebanks-Petrie noted that one cat, in an advanced stage of pregnancy, and already with a litter of four-month-old kittens, was only a year old. Another cat, only six months old, was found to be already pregnant.
None of the trapped feral cats were over three years old, she said.
She said necropsies of the animals carried out by the vet showed “an extremely high rate of severe tape worm” in many of the cats. Analyses of their stomach contents found cardboard, plastics and paper, as well as the remains of wild birds and frogs. She added that no rodent remains had been found in their digestive systems.
Many of the cats had injuries of some kind, “some very severe”, from biting, broken glass or sharp metal containers at the landfill site, where the animals regularly scavenge.
A representative of the Cayman Islands Humane Society observed all aspects of the control operations, which were conducted humanely, Ebanks-Petrie said.
Grant used to manage invasive species
In 2022, the DoE was awarded a CI$535,000 Darwin Grant in partnership with the DoA, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the University of Aberdeen to establish more solid biosecurity protocols and implement effective invasive species management in Cayman Brac and Little Cayman through increased capacity, improved knowledge, and community engagement, the government press release noted.
Although the legal dispute focused on feral cats, Ebanks-Petrie said in the release there are a number of other invasive species negatively impacting Sister Islands’ flora and fauna.
“While feral cats and green iguanas are perhaps the most obvious threats to our native and endemic fauna, other species like rats can also have significant, negative impacts,” she said. “The Darwin Grant funding will allow us to improve our inter-island biosecurity efforts and safeguard our Sister Islands unique biodiversity.”
Part of the efforts will include estimating cat population density using wildlife cameras and a feasibility study to determine if eradication of feral cats from Little Cayman is “technically, socially and economically possible”, officials said.
Director of Agriculture Adrian Estwick said in the release that his department is “a proud partner in local biosecurity efforts and also encouraged pet owners to be part of the solution”.
“We each have a role to play as individuals to support local biosecurity efforts,” he said. “One example is not attempting to illegally or improperly import food or plants into the country that could bring with them invasive pests or harmful diseases. Another is responsible pet ownership – please spay and neuter your pets to prevent the creation of feral cat colonies and reduce the burden on local shelters.”
According to the release, the settlement made to the animal charities will not impact the government’s forecast financial performance for the 2022 financial year and will not increase overall planned expenditure.
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