CORTLAND, N.Y. – SUNY Cortland is asking members of the community to refrain from feeding stray cats on its campus.
In a letter addressed to students and faculty on Wednesday, director of facilities operations and services Zach Newswanger said feeding the cats can have negative consequences for the college campus.
"Recently we have noticed a number of locations on campus where members of our community have been attempting to feed some assumed stray cats. While this seems like a great act of kindness, it actually leads to negative effects to our campus," Newswanger said.
Those effects can include attracting additional stray cats and unwanted animals like skunks and raccoons, he said.
The college be working with associate professor of kinesiology Susan Rayl and CNY SNAP, a no-kill cat rescue group based in Cortland, to determine how to handle the influx of stray cats.
The cats will either be taken to their owner or a no-kill rescue facility to receive care and be adopted out.
