News
Sea Bright Committee To Address Feral Cat Problem
By Ryan Fennell
SEA BRIGHT - The Sea Bright Borough Council officially formed a Cats Committee at Tuesday night's council meeting to address the Borough's stray and feral cat population.
The Cats Committee has not yet met but is intended to be a body that can form recommendations to be presented to the governing body as a means for controlling the population.
The committee currently consists of eight members of the Sea Bright community including Police Chief John Sorrentino and Borough Administrator Maryanne Smeltzer.
According to Councilwoman Dina Long, who proposed the formation of the committee, the purpose of the Cats Committee is to "make recommendations to the governing body for a long-term plan to deal humanely with Sea Bright's stray and feral cat population."
According to Long, Sea Bright has an abundant population of stray and feral cats along the river to the west and the beach to the east.
"We have feline residents along the beach and the river," Long said.
"It's never been something that anyone has been willing to talk about in public because with any kind of animal discussion people tend to become very emotional. That's why we wanted to put a committee together to make recommendations to the governing body."
Within the Borough there are varying opinions on how to deal with the feral cats many of which strongly oppose one another.
"We need to find a common ground," Long said. "We believe that many minds working together is the best way to deal with the situation."
