DOVER, Del.- A new law in Delaware allows people to care for feral cat colonies around the state, so long as the cats are getting spayed or neutered and vaccinated.
House Bill 235 spells out an exception in Delaware law for people to be caretakers of free-range cats without becoming the felines owners. It allows for unwanted cats to be released into the wild if they are taken to a shelter to be sterilized and vaccinated.
The intention of the measure is to ultimately reduce the population of unwanted cats and protect the public from rabies and other diseases carried by unvaccinated animals.
The legislation was amended to prevent the relocation of any free roaming or feral cat to any coastal area recognized to be located within a migratory bird flyway, such as Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge, Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge, and Fort DuPont.
