Pet-lover says feral cats must be controlled

Pet-lover Ira Preston was injured homing stray Queen Elizabeth Park cats but remains adamant the now-exploding population must be caught to be controlled.
She had been feeding feral cats at the park alongside a friend for about three years before deciding in 2006 to catch a kitten and give the animal a home.
Mrs Preston returned with Smokey, a now 2-year-old longhaired cat whose affection for his mistress is matched only by his distrust of strangers.
Smokey joined the home without any fuss, she said, and still enjoys the company of Disco the dog and an immaculate aviary full of cinnamon cockatiels and a rock pebbler parakeet called Rocky.
Mrs Preston, who is profoundly deaf, said she had also caught a kitten for her friend soon after she captured Smokey, although as she laid hands on the creature a passer-by called out and the wild animal was startled.
"I'm very, very deaf and was concentrating on what I was doing. Someone screamed out to me and the kitten was terrified. It clawed me really badly on my hand. I almost lost my finger."
The worst wound left a scar running the length of her ring finger and since capturing the kittens she has not returned to feed the feline population at the park, she said, which was becoming too expensive anyway.
Mrs Preston said other people must now stop feeding the cats as well to allow population control.
"It's extremely difficult to catch them but that's what has to happen now. And if people stop feeding them they will get hungry and using bait, they should be able to be caught in cages," she said.
Mrs Preston said the dumping of cats at the park, which she witnessed several times while feeding the animals, also worsens the situation.
"My friend and I saw one woman cycling past the sports ground just drop a kitten there, and another time we saw an older ginger cat thrown from a car at the park itself. It took off towards the lake and we never saw it again."
Mrs Preston said feeding the stray cats may seem a kind act but is today working against the community, and the cats themselves.