Animal rescue group has meeting

With a plea on behalf of abandoned cats, Michael Boccacino opened the Pennsylvania Abandoned Animal Rescue League's meeting last night. Boccacino, the league's president, explained to the 10 or so people at the meeting that the problem stems from the repeated moving of students year-in and year-out. Students obtain cats during the year, but upon leaving school they dump the cats rather than take them to a shelter, he said. He also listed the low-income population as part of the problem. The league catches stray cats and takes them to the Morris Shelter in Center City. This time-consuming process, Boccacino said, involves feeding the cats continuously until a rapport is established, followed by trapping the animal. College sophomore Sandy Villabon expressed an interest in expanding the league's activities, adding that the group's small size prevents it from doing so. The focus of the meeting was a slide show, with each slide picturing a different cat that had a story of its own. Boccacino described finding a stray cat that lived outside an off-campus house. He asked a student who lived nearby to help him catch and transport the cat. The student agreed, but did not help him and he was never able to get in touch with the student again. The league was formed four years ago when Boccacino recognized the large number of abandoned cats around the University. Unable to turn his head away from the plight of the starving and diseased animals, he found himself feeding and trapping the cats on his own. He formed the league after realizing the task was too time consuming to do alone. Aside from not being a formally recognized club of the University, the league's greatest problem has been declining interest since its founding. However, there was a large turn out at last night's meeting and the league has plans to trap a cat this Sunday evening, members said.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.