Velez Malaga approves population control for stray cats

THE Andalucía Por Si party has welcomed the decision during a conference held on Friday.

Spokesman for the party in Velez-Malaga Jose Pino welcomed the new initiative that hopes to control the population of stray cats in the municipality of Velez Malaga.

The scheme has been entitled C.E.S. which involves the capture, sterilization and release of female cats to prevent them from breeding.

Recently the area has been inundated with cats which although control the rat and pest population, the number has got out of hand and noise and disruption caused by the cats fighting has led to a number of residents complaints.

José Pino has warned that “this is only the first step, now we have to fight for it to be carried out.”

Although the plan has been approved in principal by the regional government, a allocation still has to be organised in the next 2020 budget in order to start the first wave of sterilisations.

There also needs to be a change in the municipal regulations in order for it to be implemented.

Velez Malaga will not be the first in Andalucía to begin such a program. The scheme is already very successful in Marbella, Mijas, Malaga and Nerja.

The scheme is also popular worldwide, with projects such as the Trap, Neuter, Release (TNR) effectively keeping the population under control.