I didn't post any updates over the weekend, but I assure you that the shelters and rescue groups that are banding together to approach and work with EBRPD have continued to work unceasingly!  The Board of Directors of the Friends of Oakland Animal Services has shared a letter that they've sent to the Board of Directors of EBRPD.  Please click here to read it in its entirety.

Just as before, please note that you can attend and make a statement via Zoom at the very end of the meeting, once it is opened up for "comments regarding topics not on the agenda".  You also have the option to leave a voicemail comment or an email comment, but these must be received by 3pm Pacific TODAY!  All of the details on exactly how to use any of these options to participate and make your voice heard can be found in the FOAS post linked above.

I must send this out immediately, and I can only send an update once a day, but I hope that tomorrow I can write to you about an adorable and healthy kitten Tiffany trapped just this morning.  The kitten is safe at ICRA.  Tiffany confirmed that there are at least two other siblings, and efforts are underway to trap those two as well.  Although it is always wonderful to hear of an innocent life being saved, this is also disheartening news.  These kittens were not seen at the vast complex of parking lots before now, and appear to have been dumped there last night or today, just like countless cats before them.

My immediate goal when I started this petition was simply to get the Park District to stop shooting cats and to instead reach out to those who are not only willing, but eager to offer humane alternatives.  When the stable TNR'd colony of cats was massacred, it was a sad inevitability that nearby community cats would move into the space the former colony once occupied.  The situation would in all likelihood be worse, because these would primarily be cats who have not been TNR'd, so their numbers would grow quickly as kittens were born.  The numbers will also swell because people have in the past, and sadly continue into the present, to dump pets they can no longer care for.  As far as I can see, long term resolution lies in increased understanding of the goals and effectiveness of TNR, the importance of spaying and neutering pet cats, and the alternatives to "dumping" pets if the person responsible for them can no longer care for them, especially in these increasingly challenging and uncertain times.

Sorry for the very rushed post.  It is already nearly 1pm Pacific, and I want to give as many people as possible the opportunity to send comments via email or voicemail to EBRPD before 3pm.

Thank you as always for your support and your help in spreading the word and raising awareness of this situation!  YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE!!!

**PLEASE NOTE:  I must once again apologize for sending along inaccurate information.  I originally attributed the letter above to the Director of Oakland Animal Services.  The letter was actually written and signed by the Board of Directors of the Friends of OAS.  I posted in a terrible hurry, and was just starting to try to puzzle out how exactly to edit this update to make it more accurate when Trish Roque, a board member and co-signer of the letter, posted a comment below and clarified everything for me!  Thank you, Trish Roque!  My sincere apologies for my mistake.**