Boeing Rejects Request to Create Feral Cat Preserve

The Boeing Co. has rejected a call from animal rights activists to set up a feral cat preserve on its property to avoid turning the felines over to the city’s animal shelter, where they are usually euthanized.

In Defense of Animals, a Mill Valley, Calif., group, wanted the Seattle-based aerospace giant to set up a sanctuary at two possible company sites on the east side of Lakewood Boulevard. The cats are now roaming Boeing property on the west side of that street, where vacant buildings are slated for redevelopment.

“Boeing facilities in Seal Beach and in Mesa, Ariz., have humane programs for the control and care of feral cats,” said Bill Dyer of in Defense of Animals. “The killing of these innocent animals in Long Beach is unnecessary.”

After a moratorium on the trapping, Boeing has hired a company to remove the 100 to 200 cats, opossums and foxes from the area. The contractor, in turn, has been catching the animals and turning them over to the Long Beach Animal Shelter.

Boeing rejected the sanctuary proposal Sept. 1, after deciding there would be too many hygiene and employee safety problems as well as potential city code violations.