UPDATE: Here’s the latest from Billy the Kidden Rescue after they met with Colonna’s leadership on Wednesday:
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Hampton Roads cat rescue groups say they’re wary over plans to relocate dozens of cats from a Norfolk shipyard, but are working with the company on the best path forward.
It all comes after the rescues got a tip over the weekend that alleged Colonna’s Shipyard would start trapping, and potentially euthanizing, cats and geese on their property starting on Monday, August 26. That understandably set off alarm bells for the rescues, who took to social media to get the word out.
However, after receiving backlash, Colonna’s insists there were never plans to exterminate the cats.
A spokesperson for Colonna’s told 10 On Your Side on Monday that the company is “100% committed” to relocating the cats in the “most humane way possible.”
Colonna’s has enlisted the help of Norfolk-based ACME Animal Control, a state-certified private company that specializes in the humane removal of animals like squirrels, snakes and bees.
ACME’s Brian Fiske says the cat population at Colonna’s, previously a small group of fixed felines, has ballooned due to unfixed cats coming in from outside the shipyard. That’s led to safety concerns, with some cats reportedly getting up in heavy machinery and electrical boxes, Fiske relayed.
“Years ago [Colonna’s and a local rescue] did the trap, neuter, release to try to keep a small population where they wouldn’t reproduce and have kittens,” Fiske said. “Well I guess there’s been other cats from the Berkley neighborhood coming into the shipyard. So now they have a pretty bad situation. It’s estimated they have at least about 60 to 70 cats out there now.”
Fiske says he’s been coordinating with two of the areas largest rescues, Billy the Kidden Rescue in Virginia Beach (the largest home-based rescue on the East Coast) and Feral Affairs Network in Norfolk, in particular to find new homes for the cats. He knows it’ll be a long process and has committed to moving slowly with trapping (only about five cats per day).
Fiske says there are also plans to identify and keep the smaller group of longtime cat residents at the shipyard. They can be identified through clipped ears, the universal sign a cat’s been fixed.
Billy the Kidden President Emilie Jackson though just wishes this development wasn’t so abrupt, and that Colonna’s had stayed in contact in recent years.
She previously led the rescue’s efforts to trap and spay/neuter nearly 800 cats at the shipyard between 2016-2021. 104 were rereleased to live at the shipyard after being spayed/neutered.
“It’s been three years since I’ve been there and no one’s ever called me. No one’s called me about this. So I just got hit with it Sunday. I’m like, why didn’t someone call me?”
Jackson said despite assurances from Colonna’s and Acme, she knows what typically happens to feral cats that can’t find a suitable outdoor home like a barn or chicken coop.
“If they’re not adoptable cats, and they’re feral and unfixed, then that’s where the issues lie,” Jackson said. “They will be euthanized, because there’s just not enough space.”
And it’s not as simple as moving a feral cat to the countryside. They need time to acclimate.
“They are used to humans giving them some food and then may supplementing it with rats and other things they find in a shipyard or near the water,” added Feral Affairs Adoption Director Sheila Hall. “… you have to acclimate them to any barn home. I think there’s a lot of old thinking out there. ‘We’ll just put them out there and, you know, they’ll be find and you don’t need to feed them cause they’ll eat rats. But none of this is true … it has to be done correctly. And that takes a little bit of time.”
But volunteers are stepping up, with space for 20 cats lined up so far. Billy the Kidden VP and Trapping Director Joyce Rutti says it’s a big undertaking, but ACME has been willing to work with them. That includes the effort to make sure the handful of older cat residents get to stay.
Jackson meanwhile is also hoping Colonna’s can help with some of the costs of spaying and neutering the relocated cats. She said their nonprofit has been paying a minimum of $85 a cat, but they’ve struggled to find anything under $300 recently due to a shortage of veterinarians. Though she says they’ve had a lot of help from the Chesapeake Humane Society and Grant Veterinary Care in Chesapeake.
“A regular vet, you’re paying to $300-$800 per cat. The low-cost clinics. I mean, they’re anywhere from $85-$130 … but we can’t even get our cats in the $85 ones anymore.”
Jackson, who said the rescues plan to meet with Colonna’s and ACME on Wednesday to work through the plans to help the cats, just wanted to share this overall takeaway.
“Spay and neuter your damn cats.”
You can donate to Feral Affairs and Billy the Kidden at these links, and follow along with updates. We’ll share any developments here on WAVY.com as well.