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TALLAHASSEE - A judge dismissed a challenge to Florida's planned crackdown on feral cat colonies, clearing the path for the state to implement a policy it says is needed to protect native wildlife.
Administrative law Judge David M. Maloney ruled that legal challenges could not yet be heard, because the state has introduced only a general policy on feral cats, rather than specific rules.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted in May to adopt a policy stating that feral cats are nonnative predators that threaten wildlife.
While the policy didn't set out specific actions, it suggested options that include relocating colonies, organizing adoption campaigns and, as a last resort, killing cats that could harm native animals.
Alley Cat Allies, a Washington group, and several state residents filed a challenge to the policy, saying the commission used sloppy research, did not allow sufficient time for public comment and did not consider more humane alternatives.
Alley Cat Allies advocates the use of trap, neuter and return programs that allow cats to live out their lives outdoors without producing offspring.
Maloney ruled that the commission's policy hasn't risen to the level of a rule that could be challenged in court. It is "at least one step, if not two, removed from actual interpretation, implementation or prescription of law or policy," he wrote in the Aug. 29 ruling.
Angie Raines, spokeswoman for Fish and Wildlife, said the state will assign staff and begin assessing which colonies could pose a threat to wildlife.
"They're going to start looking around and figure out where we have a problem," she said.
The commission "has no plans to harm cats. The purpose of this agency is to protect animals today and for the future, and that's what we're going to do," Raines said.