Feral cat control agreement

Hello everyone!!!
Thank you for you strong support and donations.

We have an update and a step in the right direction!!!
We hope to continue to build on this relationship with the County- We will keep everyone updated:

By TIFFANY REVELLE The Daily Journal
Updated: 04/01/2010 12:04:36 AM PDT

The powers that be struck an agreement Monday about the handling of the county's huge population of feral cats.

Sheriff Tom Allman called the meeting after concern was raised recently that county Animal Care and Control officers - who answer to him - were recently trapping more of the cats than usual.

Cheryl Schrader of Anderson Valley Rescue was chief among those raising the concerns, saying the increased trapping of cats was duplicating the free spay-neuter program she offers and was an unnecessary expense for the county.

"It was a productive meeting," Allman said. "AV Rescue is going to work with us to respond to calls for service for cats."

Schrader said she's gearing up to answer those calls, which she anticipates will increase once the word gets around that she's the go-to person for keeping the feral cat population under control.

She and representatives from the Spay-Neuter Assistance Program and cat colony caregivers were at the meeting.

"This is going to increase awareness about the cat problem and reduce the amount the county spends on the problem," Allman said.

County Animal Care and Control officers will still respond in some extreme situations, he said, namely, when the feral cats are creating a public safety hazard or disease could be involved.

In general, he said he hopes to foster cooperation with the groups that are dedicated to the responsible care of feral cats.

Schrader said when the Sheriff's Office asks her to respond to
a call about cats creating a nuisance, she will respond by contacting the property owner and neighbors in the area to help trap the cats so they can be spayed or neutered and adopted out as pets or as mouse-catchers in her barn cat program.

Schrader said she already knows where many of the feral cat colonies are and who feeds and cares for them.

"Many of these people are like the cats: they don't want much notice," she said.

Schrader said she wants to have a community liaison to find and work with the people who care for new feral cat colonies as they come to her attention, with the goal being to let the cats live out their lives but keep them from reproducing and perpetuating the problem.

Some questions remain about the logistics of the collaboration between AV Rescue and the Animal Care and Control officers, Schrader said. One is deciding how many cats are "too many."

"The biggest issue is if there are too many cats, what do we do with them? That's going to have to be addressed colony by colony," Schrader said.

http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/ci_1...