US suspends plan to remove stray cats from Puerto Rico historic site

The U.S. government has temporarily suspended a plan to remove iconic stray cats living in a historic district of Puerto Rico’s capital until a lawsuit against the project is resolved, a nonprofit organization announced Monday.

The ruling was welcomed by those opposed to the U.S. National Park Service’s decision to remove about 200 cats roaming around a coastal fortress built by Spain in colonial times.

“It’s a short-term victory, but in the long term these cats are still in danger,” said Yonaton Arnoff, an attorney for the Maryland-based organization Alley Cat Allies.

Long a tourist attraction, cats are both loved and loathed by those who visit and live in Old San Juan, home to the 16th-century fortress known as “El Morro.” It is part of the San Juan National Historic Site operated by the U.S. National Park Service.

The federal agency warned in 2022 that the cat population had increased and that the felines could transmit diseases to humans and were likely wiping out wildlife, adding that the smell of urine and feces had taken over the site.

In late 2023, the agency announced it would hire an animal welfare organization to remove the cats, and if the chosen organization failed to do so within six months, officials would hire an animal control agency.

The National Park Service did not respond to a message seeking comment.

The agency held public hearings on the plan that became heated, with critics saying the organization selected would decide whether trapped cats would be put up for adoption, fostered, kept in a shelter or face other options.

Arnoff said in a telephone interview that retiring the current cats is an impossible task since new cats will take their place.

“They will have to continue doing it forever,” he said.

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