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Can
S.A. make peace with its critters?
by Laura E. Jesse, San
Antonio Express-News
Wednesday, October 4, 2006
If you live within the San Antonio city limits
and have some uninvited, undomesticated four-legged guests
at your home, don't call Animal Care Services.
The city department announced a week ago that
it would stop lending traps to capture wildlife and no longer
pick up trapped, healthy wild animals or accept them at its
facility in Brackenridge Park.
Officials at the municipal shelter say it's
meant solely for dogs and cats and that wildlife rescue organizations
are better equipped to handle opossums, raccoons and other
critters that show up in urban yards looking for food, water
or shelter.
The policy also fits into the shelter's goal
of making the city a no-kill community by 2012, because no-kill,
among other things, means healthy animals — wild or
domesticated — that are not nuisances will not be euthanized.
The change in policy, along with a San Antonio
Express-News report highlighting Corpus Christi's battle with
possums, has left Alamo City residents wondering what to do
about urban wildlife.
People who call the city's 311 customer service
number are referred to Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation
out of Kendalia. But don't expect them to pick up the animal
either.
"We will counsel people on living harmoniously
with whatever animal they may have," said Lynn Cuny,
executive director of the animal protection organization.
If counseling fails and the caller insists
the animal be removed, Cuny said Wildlife Rescue will reluctantly
pick it up x if a volunteer is available.
"These animals have been living in San
Antonio longer than any one of us have," she said, adding
the practice of trapping and removing urban wildlife is just
"enabling the public to do the wrong thing."
"These animals are not a problem,"
she said. Lisa Norwood, public information officer for the
municipal shelter, said the city's 311 operators have been
given a list of resources to offer residents who are having
problems with wildlife.
Cuny's organization is the first on the list
and the only free one, and she said the volume of calls increased
tenfold over the past week. Others on the list are paid exterminators
or wildlife removal services.
Russell Dutson, owner of Admiral Pest Control,
said he takes trapped wildlife to the country and releases
them, a service for which he charges $95 and up.
"I don't think it's fair to kill them,"
Dutson said. "Then you're dealing with animal cruelty."
But state law discourages the trapping and
release of wild animals by restricting where they can be released.
And Cuny said it often does little good to
remove an animal. Urban wildlife will go where there's space
and food, so if a possum is trapped and taken to the country,
it's likely that another one will take its place.
"When you remove one, you're inviting
more to come in," Cuny said. "My understanding
of state law is that Texas Parks and Wildlife doesn't want
(wildlife) moved all over the counties; they want them to
stay near the natural habitat."
Ideally, she said, an animal should not be
relocated more than 7 miles from where it was trapped.
To ward off wild animals, Cuny suggested residents
put dog and cat food indoors overnight and make sure garbage
cans have a tight lid.
"Basically, do anything you would to
prevent roaches," she said.
ljesse@express-news.net
Copyright © 2006 San
Antonio Express-News
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