Fines for feral feeding?Date: 4/27/2010 April 28, 2010.
By G. Michael Dobbs
Managing Editor
GREATER SPRINGFIELD -- Last week, the Holyoke City Council grappled once again with an ordinance designed to offer some control of that city's feral cat problem, but local animal welfare officials said the problem is not limited to Holyoke.
Leslie Harris, the executive director of Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Society in Springfield told Reminder Publications, "It's out of control all over."
"Cats overwhelmingly are the number one problem this region faces [in animal welfare]," she said.
Harris added the issue of stray cats is a "nation-wide problem and there is a movement almost everywhere to stem the tide."
In Holyoke, the proposed ordinance that came before the City Council would have imposed a series of fines for people found feeding stray cats. The fines would be $100 a day for the first offense, $200 a day for the second offense and $300 a day for the third offense. The ordinance would allow the city to place tax liens on a property owned by a repeat offender.
Councilors related problems told to them by their constituents of stray cats attracted to an area by outdoor feeding who have caused property damage and created a public health problem. The outdoor feeding of the cats has also attracted skunks and raccoons to the urban neighborhoods.
One Holyoke property owner has already been brought to Housing Court under the city's present ordinances in an effort to address his feeding of stray cats on Clinton Avenue.
Although advocates of the proposed ordinance sought a final vote that night, the measure was sent back to committee after a lengthy debate. Some councilors, such as Kevin Jourdain, who served as the city's representative to the T.J. O'Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center, doubted the ordinance would improve the problem. He noted the city doesn't put liens on the properties owned by people who owe back real estate taxes and thought the law wouldn't be enforced.
His criticisms echoed those of other councilors, such as Linda Vacon, who said, "This is really not an enforceable law on its face."
Opponents of the proposed ordinance have said a continuing trap-neuter-return (TNR) program would be more helpful in controlling the cat population.
There will be a meeting of the Ordinance Committee to hear more testimony from the public. The date had not yet been selected by press time.
Harris said she thought the councilors were trying to do the best they could, considering they do not have expertise in this field.
"There are responsible ways to care for feral cats and sometimes the right thing to do is not evident," she said.
Harris believes an ordinance such as the one discussed in Holyoke isn't the solution as it criminalizes feeding stray cats and "drives people underground."
Dakin has had success in controlling feral cat populations in both rural areas and an urban neighborhood in Greenfield through intense education and neutering programs, she said. She emphasized the neutering must be accessible and affordable to cat owners.
Dakin offers such services at reduced rates at its Springfield facility.
Pet owners should neuter their cats and, if they allow their cats to go outside, should also put collars with identification tags on them so animal control officials understand they are not strays, she added. Pet cats also need rabies vaccination and are subject to being exposed to a variety of health hazards through exposure to feral cats as well.
TNR is part of the answer, she said, but not the single answer.
Harris noted that when she started her career in animal welfare in 20 years ago Ohio, the way to control feral cat populations was to trap and kill them. That practice has been abandoned.
There have also been efforts to trap and relocate the cats, which she said also was not an answer.
Debra LaBruzzo, coordinator of The Homeless Cat Project based in Springfield, said, "Every community has issues with feral cats."
She said her organization has seen an increase in demand for its services in Springfield, Chicopee, Holyoke and West Springfield. She doesn't believe there has been an increase in the numbers of cats as much as an increase in the number of cats being reported by people.
Since its founding in 1998, the Homeless Cats Project has trapped, neutered, vaccinated and returned more than 9,000 cats to managed colonies, LaBruzzo said.
She explained a volunteer feeds the cats in a managed colony.
"We just don't dump cats back," she explained. "We provide shelters for them."
The non-profit organization has been active in Holyoke working to decrease the feral cats population there and LaBruzzo said the proposed ordinance was "poorly conceived."
She attended the council meeting last week and charged the statements made by some councilors about the problem were "distortions and half-truths."
For more information on services for feral cats, contact Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Society at www.dpvhs.org or at 781-4000. The Homeless Cat Project can be reached at www.cc4animals.org/hcp/index.html or at 783-4996.
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