Animal lovers call for Tesco boycott

Feral catsA GROUP of animal-loving volunteers in Limerick have called on shoppers to boycott Tesco at Coonagh Cross as they claim the retailer has hired a pest control agency to remove and destroy feral cats found on their grounds.

Limerick Feral Cats, dedicated to improving the lives of feral cats in the city and county, claim they offered to trap, neuter and relocate the animals but were met by “a brick wall” by management at the store.

The voluntary group says their issue is with the trapping of cats by pest control in a manner that does not reflect best welfare practice, and the needless destruction of “blameless” cats.

“I know that there are more cats at Tesco Coonagh, and that they have become more visible in recent weeks,” said Mary Mollica of Limerick Feral Cats.

“When we called to the store on Friday, we were diplomatic to a fault. I knew they’d already had some phone calls from private individuals concerned about the cats, but I was hoping that in our group being conciliatory, they would allow us to trap, neuter and relocate the remaining cats. We provided a humane solution to their issue, and were met with lies and complete intransigence,” she claimed.

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Last year the volunteer group neutered 550 feral cats in Limerick and secured foster homes for 110 animals.

“Veterinary Ireland actively promotes Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) as the most effective and most humane way of dealing with the feral cat situation. Compared to ‘Trap and Kill’, the TNR method is more humane, works better, is often cheaper and portrays an image of a caring and compassionate company putting animal welfare at the forefront of their policy of social corporate responsibility,” said the volunteer group spokesperson.

Commenting on the volunteer group’s facebook page, Ms Mollica said, “I strongly suggest you share this post with your friends, boycott the store and rightly harangue both the store and Tesco Ireland (whom we were fobbed off on) by phone, email and letter.”

There was no comment from Tesco at the time of going to press.

 

 

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