Haringey Council Comes to Its Senses and Rescinds Its Ban on Lost Cat Posters but It Already May Be Too Late to Save Ginger Boy

"The leader is happy for you to put up posters in the local area and has spoken to enforcement officers about this."
-- Spokesperson for Councillor George Meehan

The north London borough council that only last month had banned the display of "Lost Cat" posters and threatened to fine an aggrieved feline owner $140 for each flier that she put up has done an abrupt about-face and rescinded its inhumane and patently anti-free speech edict.

Although no official reason has been given for Haringey Council's change of heart, outrage from cat lovers and public ridicule were likely the deciding factors.

The cause celebre began when fifty-three-year-old Eileen Miles blanketed the Harringay Ladder section of the borough with fliers concerning her cat, Ginger Boy. (See photo above.) After being informed of the financial repercussions of her action, she was left with no alternative but to remove the posters. (See Cat Defender post of September 11, 2008 entitled "North London Borough Bans Lost Cat Posters Thus Forcing Ginger Boy to Find His Way Home by Himself.")

"I am pleased Haringey Council seems to be promoting responsible animal ownership," Miles told the Hornsey and Crouch End Journal on September 24th. (See "Lost Cat Poster U-Turn.")

Miles and other cat lovers in Haringey have Councillor George Meehan to thank for this reversal of policy. (See photo on the right.) "The leader is happy for you to put up posters in the local area and has spoken to enforcement officers about this," a spokesman for Meehan wrote to Miles in a recent letter. "I hope Ginger Boy comes back to you safely and please keep me updated on your search for him."

As for the missing moggy, the latest news is mixed. He is still AWOL but there have been unconfirmed sightings of him on Frobisher and Lausanne roads and that strongly suggests that he is still alive.

The repeal of the ban on "Lost Cat" posters should greatly aid in the ongoing search for Ginger Boy. Nevertheless, it is imperative that Miles and her friends be out every evening after dusk scouring the neighborhood for him.

Once a confirmed sighting has been reported traps should be set in that area. The busy streets of London are far too dangerous a place for any cat to be running loose and for that reason Miles must pull out all the stops in order to rescue him as soon as possible.

Furthermore, it is a good bet that someone is feeding him. Hopefully, they will return him to Miles although that is not how these types of feline misadventures always end. (See Cat Defender post of July 9, 2007 entitled "Hungry and Disheveled Cat Named Slim Is Picked Up Off the Streets of Ottawa by Rescuer Who Refuses to Return Him to His Owners.")

Photos: Hornsey and Crouch End Journal (Ginger Boy) and Haringey Council (Meehan).