A clowder of cats on the College of the Rockies Cranbrook campus is at the centre of controversy.

The colony, which is home to 14 feral cats has been on the campus for a decade, managed by volunteers with the East Kootenay Community Animal Response and Education Society.

Now, the college is looking to relocate the home, citing an increasing negative impact on its campus.

The society has since started a petition to get the college to rescind this action before the end-of-March deadline.

The cats are sa国际传媒渉ealthy, have names, individual personalities, and are strongly bonded to one another,sa国际传媒� the online petition states.

sa国际传媒淭he cats are all spayed, neutered, vaccinated, microchipped. Their food, water and shelter that has been provided to them through the volunteer colony caretaker, at their own personal expense for the entire duration.sa国际传媒�

The society argues that relocating the cats sa国际传媒渨ould be inhumane, cruel and not acceptable!sa国际传媒�

As of March 23, the petition had garnered 20,213 signatures.

In a series of tweets on March 20, the college said that in the last six months sa国际传媒渨esa国际传媒檝e experienced increased impact on our operations and our ability to maintain a safe learning and working environment for students and employees.sa国际传媒�

This, accoridng to the college, includes reports sa国际传媒渙ver the yearssa国际传媒� of contamination from feces and urine.

sa国际传媒淯nintended consequences of the colony have seen cats taking shelter in the vehicles in our auto trades programs which have been contaminated with cat nests, feces and in some cases deceased animals. This has caused us to write off two vehicles that had been used for training.

sa国际传媒淟ast fall, we asked the current caretaker of the feral cat colony to provide a humane plan to relocate the colony with College financial support. Sadly, no solution was provided.sa国际传媒�

The collegesa国际传媒檚 president, Paul Vogt, has met with a local animal support group who could be the answer to finding a new location.