A small but enthusiastic group of Leisure Bay residents gathered last Wednesday evening to hear what Piet Breedt from the Leisure Bay Ratepayers’ Association (LBRA) and Jenny Koen from Leisure Bay Conservancy (LBC) had to say about the growing feral cat population in Leisure Bay and Glenmore.
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Organisers contacted the very successful group ‘Cats of Durban’ who successfully manage feral cat populations through the programme known as ‘Trap, sterilize, release’ (TSR) and the organisation has promised to assist the community with volunteers, a mobile vet, traps, etcetera.
The LBRA and LBC wanted to find out if the community wanted to get on board and start the process which involves setting up feeding stations and counting and photographing cats. This will be followed with coordinated trapping and sterilising and will include vet examinations and rabies shots.
SPCA representatives attended the meeting and enthusiastically endorsed the project. Research has shown that almost every town or city in the world has feral cats. Cats are resourceful and can adapt to harsh environments, but the problem is that they are prolific breeders and their numbers can burgeon out of control.
If feral cats are relocated or euthanised, ‘outsider’ ferals soon move in and take over the turf – and the cycle begins again. It seems the answer is to manage existing colonies through sterilisation, vaccinations and basic health care and ‘intruders’ will be forcefully repelled. Cats serve a useful function in keeping rodent populations down.
Special reunion
Jane and Eddie Greenberg of Trafalgar have just returned from a six week holiday to Australia. Two of their daughters live in Perth and Sydney while their youngest daughter Caroline Holden and her family live in Johannesburg. They attended the wedding of granddaughter Tarryn Roberts, who married an ex-South African, Ruan Swart, and is in her final year at university studying physiotherapy.
This was the first time in 18 years that the three sisters, their parents and children, have all been together. Some of the cousins had never met each other before. It was a momentous occasion and even though the Greenbergs had a wonderful time, Jane lamented “I have never done so much washing in my life. We really are spoiled in South Africa.”
Happy gatherings
Another jet-setting couple, Dan and Hazel de Laney of Banners Rest Village, spent a wonderful few weeks in Mauritius with family over Christmas. Four local women celebrated birthdays with friends last week. Jeanie West, Margaret Disney, Lorraine Fitzgerald and Louise Bouwer met up with a gaggle of friends at Bucks Store for breakfast and had a fun gathering.
Residents (including your scribe) have been suffering through the excruciatingly hot, humid conditions of the past month. Having lived in Port Edward for almost 30 years, you scribe doesn’t remember these stifling summer conditions continuing day after day for weeks without respite. And the hottest month – February – is still to come. Fan and air-conditioner outlets are doing brisk business, for sure.
Don’t forget that the recycling depot behind the library is now obsolete and receptacles have been relocated to the top of the Old Pont Road at Far Horizon.
All news to Philippa.
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