LAPD uses feral cats for rodent control

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- The Los Angeles Police Department teamed up with a local animal welfare group to put colonies of feral cats to use to control rodent populations.
   
 
The Working Cats program of the Los Angeles-based Voice for Animals placed feral cats in several area police stations with mouse and rat problems.

The method worked in the past when feral cats chased the rats out of a parking lot for the Wilshire Division of the LAPD six years ago.

"Once we got the cats, problem solved," Police Cmdr. Kirk Albanese told Saturday's Los Angeles Times. "I was almost an immediate believer."

The scent of the felines, as opposed to the killing of rodents, is the most important feature of rodent control by feral cat colonies.

"It's the smell of the cat and the cat urine," said Jane Garrison with Voice for the Animals.

Garrison's group selects the cats unlikely to be adopted, and sprays, neuters and vaccinates the cats prior to working at LAPD offices.

One member of the LAPD said he liked the idea, but expressed reservations about his new guests.

"I'm more of a dog guy," said Officer Mark Miraglia, "but I try not to hit the cats when I drive out. Does that count?"

Copyright 2007 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.

And what happens when the feral cat population is out of control? 

  
Pesky cats ending up on Australian plates

ADELAIDE, Australia, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Feral cats plaguing the Australian town of Alice Springs have found a new place in the lives of local residents: on their dinner plates.

The BBC said Sunday that with millions of smaller animals becoming part of the feral cats' daily menu, one Alice Springs resident apparently took a lesson from them and created a wild cat casserole for a recent contest.

The woman who created the unusual dish for the cuisine contest said she was simply doing her part to rid the area of a feral pest.

Yet while her dish was the most shocking entry in the contest, one judge was forced to spit it out when she found it too tough to chew.

Wildlife campaigners also found the feline cuisine to be in bad taste as well, criticizing the use of the animals for food.

Several scientists weighed in, as well, saying eating feral cats could potentially expose consumers to harmful bacteria and toxins, the BBC reported.

 GROSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

I wonder how humans taste a la mode?  Or should that be flambeed esp when the greenhouse effect heats up your atmosphere, setting it ablaze? 

Where's your Admiral Harriman Nelson now?

Fictional.