I'm writing to express my disappointment in the lack of humanity currently being enacted by the UTM Physical Plant administration and management.

On Sept. 29, they sealed the foundation crawl spaces in the Holland McCombs Center, in all likelihood trapping inside two feral cats and an unknown number of raccoons. These animals have no way out of the building and, without intervention, they’ll slowly die of starvation. The plans are to seal several other building foundations in the coming weeks, apparently whether or not the animals living in the crawl spaces have been removed.

I find it unconscionable that an institution of higher learning would plan and carryout such inhumane treatment of animals, right under the noses of the students it seeks to prepare for professional success and civic participation.

And I find it ethically, if not legally, questionable that a state-funded institution would use its funds and manpower to take action arguably violating Tennessee State anti-cruelty laws. If an individual knowingly sealed animals into a confined space with no exit and no means of reaching food or water, that person could be convicted of animal cruelty.

I’m not sure why a Tennessee State public institution gets to disregard these laws.

Some of us who work for the university have been out nightly for the past two weeks trying to trap the cats. We’d been given assurances by Physical Plant management that the raccoons would also be humanely trapped and relocated to rural property. One member of our group also successfully removed multiple cats from campus throughout the summer.

So, diligent effort has been made to get the cats off campus as quickly as possible. During this time, Physical Plant management made promises for extra time to remove all the cats before any buildings would be sealed, along with promises to relocate the raccoons.

Repeatedly, they’ve broken their promises, and it’s only been because one of the campus’ animal advocates has repeatedly caught Physical Plant staff in the act of sealing buildings that we've been able to halt the efforts and rescue the cats we've saved so far.

One of my current pets is a cat rescued last September on campus as a tiny kitten. I’m just so thankful he is no longer living on campus; I grieve to think of his fate if he was.

On Animal Planet, viewers repeatedly watch individuals go to great lengths to save animals'’lives, including animals caught accidentally in building crawl spaces. At UTM, it appears we can watch just the opposite-seemingly deliberate efforts to seal animals inside of buildings with no regard for their welfare.

Any Pacer readers who find the UTM Physical Plant administration's actions troubling in any way might want to let their State Representatives and UTM administrative officials know how they feel. Or am I the only person who thinks the actions taken by UTM Physical Plant administrative and management personnel are at all problematic?