U.S. National Park Service to Remove Stray Cats from Historic Puerto Rico Site

The plan, met with opposition from cat lovers, aims to eliminate potential disease vectors and restore the cultural landscape.

The U.S. National Park Service plans to remove an estimated 200 stray cats from a 75-acre area surrounding a fortress at the San Juan National Historic Site in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The cats, which are considered both a delight and a nuisance, are a popular tourist attraction and some are believed to be descendants of colonial-era cats.
The Park Service will contract an animal welfare organization to carry out the removal. If the organization fails to remove the cats within six months, a removal agency will be hired.
The plan has been met with dismay from cat lovers and the nonprofit group Save a Gato, which currently helps care for the cats and hopes to be chosen to implement the plan.
The Park Service has stated that all visitors will benefit from the removal of the cats, which can transmit diseases to humans, and that the current cat population is inconsistent with the cultural landscape.