ELMIRA, N.Y. -- New York State may allow Elmira to pursue a new way of managing the city's cat population.
Elmira leaders want to implement a program to trap stray cats, spay or neuter them and send them back to the streets, but they say state law might prohibit so-called trap, neuter, return programs. Elmira leaders recently appealed to state legislators to clarify the law.
The mayor says the state instead offered to exempt Elmira from it.
New York State may allow Elmira to pursue a new way of managing the city's cat population.
"This could be a good positive first step, home rule legislation that will enable us to have an exemption to that rule, that would allow us to trap, spay and neuter animals, cats specifically, and return them to colonies so that they can be cared for and develop better live and sharply reduce the problems related to stray cats here in the city,” said Mayor John Tonello.
The mayor says he will go after the exemption but also continue to lobby lawmakers for a change statewide.