Cops give cats love, get fleas in return

[Kadie]

SAN FRANCISCO
Cops give cats love, get fleas in return

Steve Rubenstein, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, September 11, 2004

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The long arm of the law is doing a lot of scratching in San Francisco's Bayview district these days. It's all on account of a dozen or so feral cats that have taken up residence in the police station parking lot.

The cats have been increasing in number for several months, ever since kind-hearted officers began leaving bowls of cat food behind a Dumpster and erected a small plastic cat house -- the kind for cats.

With the cats, however, have come fleas, and the scratching has become an occupational hazard inside the police station on Williams Avenue. The captain's secretary, Aura Horton, began scratching. The officer at the front desk began scratching. Fleas began hopping through the office of Capt. Rick Bruce.

"They were all over the fax machine and the computer,'' said Horton, who lifted her pant legs to reveal three flea bites on her ankles.

The cops called in an exterminator, who sprayed a few spots and left flea traps but said more spraying would be pointless unless something was done about the cats, too. But Bruce likes cats, and he likes his officers to be happy.

more...
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/09/11/BAG6P8N4VJ1.DTL

[meow2u3]

1. Lie down with CATS, wake up with fleas?!

:crazy:

[Southsideirish]

2. Not cats fault - they hate having fleas, too.

Sand is a prime place for an animal to pick them up. I had no idea, several years ago, when our dog picked up sand fleas at a beach cottage - it ruined our vacation as we had to leave early. Then he brought them home with him and gave them to our 2 cats and the whole house became infested.

[jukes]

3. fleas suck!

i administer oral program to my feral colonies; it minimizes infestation.

use advantage/program @ my shelter/house.

[hyphenate]

4. Just need to use advantage

It'll kill the flea cycle and they won't infest the fire station.