AR-News: (US NY) They May Not Need All Nine Lives

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

Thanks to Ravenswood activists, cats have a chance to escape from dangerous 
places



By Jesse Serwer
Jesse Serwer is a freelance writer.

February 16, 2004


For as long as Olga Duell can remember, there have been stray cats hanging 
around Ravenswood Houses.

Duell, who has lived in the Long Island City public housing complex for more 
than 35 years, estimates there are hundreds of cats calling Ravenswood's 38 
acres and 31 buildings home.

"They go into the basement to keep warm," said Duell, who occasionally fed 
strays until diabetes forced her into a wheelchair several years ago.

The cats make their way into ground-level crawl spaces that lead to the 
buildings' ventilation system. For years, according to Duell and other tenants, the 
city Housing Authority's efforts to seal vent openings have resulted in the 
deaths of countless strays caught in the crawl spaces at the wrong time.

"The cats die right under my apartment and horrible smells come up from the 
basement," said Irene Richter, a tenant of 27 years who said she began noticing 
odors every fall about a decade ago. "The air gets awful," added Richter, who 
has been feeding, caring for, and even administering antibiotics to a gray 
tabby she calls Phillip for several years. "It is like a cemetery for cats down 
there."

But Housing Authority officials say there are no strays at Ravenswood.

"Our people have gone through the buildings, inspected each one and they have 
not found any cats," said spokesman Howard Mader, who said vents are closed 
to stop rats from infesting the buildings. "We're going to do everything we can 
to keep rats off our property - if it means sealing vents to the basement, 
that's what we're going to do."

Duell said that in all her years at Ravenswood she has never seen a rodent. 
"Not even a mouse," she said. Richter argued that cat carcasses actually 
attract rodents and other pests into the basements.

When residents learned of plans to again seal the vents earlier this winter, 
they decided to take a stand, enlisting the aid of Joe Mora, an American 
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals volunteer and animal rescuer who 
lives a few blocks from the complex.



full story:

http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/queens/nyc-nabes163672242feb16,0,2959529.s
tory?coll=nyc-manheadlines-queens 

"The world is a dangerous place,
not because of those who do evil,
but because of those who look on and do nothing.",
Albert Einstein
      /\   /\         
>' .' <   
                              
There is no justice, just us!  








    
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