MO Mobile Home Park Residents Receive Notice to Poison Cats

Residents of the White Eagle Woods mobile home park in Reeds Spring, MO were shocked to receive a notice, signed “White Eagle Woods – LLC”, telling them to poison area cats or face penalties:

The notice requested all residents to “leave a bowl of antifreeze out to poison” the stray cats. It goes on to read that if the problem is not eliminated, rent will increase for all tenants. If any tenant is caught feeding a stray cat, they will face immediate eviction.

Mark Rich is the owner of White Eagle Woods. Park resident Jeff White describes him as a cat killer:

“I’ve actually witnessed him shooting two different cats and I’ve heard other people say they’ve seen him put out antifreeze. I found a pie plate underneath that home over there with antifreeze in it. And between the well house and the water tank, I found a cat food can with antifreeze in it,” White said.

In fact, the KSPR news crew saw evidence of what may be a crime during its visit to the park:

On Thursday, KSPR found the charred remains of one cat that had been burned in a pile of debris. An investigator with the Humane Society of Missouri, along with deputies from the Stone County Sheriff’s Department were also present. An investigation is underway.

Mr. Rich would only speak briefly by phone with the KSPR reporter before hanging up. He denied writing the notice received by residents and said he would allow the park’s cats and kittens to be trapped and taken to shelters. Presumably he is unaware of the trend being promoted by some for shelters to return friendly cats found outdoors to their original location instead of returning them to their owners or finding them new homes.

Proponents of shelters not doing their jobs to protect friendly cats and kittens found outside will no doubt dismiss this story as an outlier.  Which will surely bring comfort to owners of lost cats being poisoned as well as friendly cats who were just looking for a home when they were abandoned by the shelter and left to drink antifreeze.  Because hey, shelters already aren’t doing their jobs, why should we bother trying to make them?

I don’t know whether the adult cats at the White Eagle Woods mobile home park are truly feral, friendly and loving, somewhere in between, owned pets who are or are not allowed outdoors by their owners, or a mix of all of the above.  But the news crew was able to film some of the cats, including kittens, and age alone makes kittens eligible for taming, even if born to a feral mother cat.  I also don’t know if any shelters in the area have been told by “experts” not to do their jobs to protect friendly cats found outdoors.  But if they any of the area shelters have this policy in place or are considering this option, it would surely lead to disaster for these cats.

(Thanks Arlene for the link.)