LAKE COUNTY — Lake County has a serious cat overpopulation problem that has earned the county the highest euthanasia rate in the state.
4,000 animals were turned into the Lake County Animal Care and Control Facility last year, of which 65 percent, or 2,600 were cats. Only 18 percent, or 480, of those 2,600 cats were adopted or transferred to a rescue facility. 2,120 cats were destroyed. This is a cycle that keeps repeating year after year. Without some kind of significant intervention, the cycle will not be broken, according to Animal Care and Control Director Bill Davidson.
Many people start out feeding one or two stray cats because they don”t want them to go hungry, not realizing that one or two cats soon leads to eight or nine. Within a few weeks time, they can then be dealing with a colony of 12 to 15 cats. That feline colony would continue to grow and reproduce exponentially unless action is taken.
The cats must be spayed or neutered in order to stop the cycle: taking them into the shelter, holding them as stray animals and then trying to adopt them out isn”t working. It”s costly to the taxpayers and destroying thousands of healthy cats each year isn”t a socially acceptable solution, according to Davidson.
Many agencies work with local groups on trap, neuter and release (TNR) programs. TNR is a wonderful idea, but the program must be properly maintained in order to work. Many people start out with good intentions: spaying and neutering, vaccinating, releasing and feeding colonies of cats only to find out after they start that the property they are using isn”t allowed to be used for that purpose.
First and foremost, with any TNR program, use of the property for this purpose must be established and granted by the property owner. Additionally, in order to maintain a colony in one area, the colony must be monitored and fed on a daily basis. Local rescue groups and volunteers are necessary in order to follow up with this maintenance and care.
In light of the county”s euthanasia status and cat overpopulation problem, local veterinarians have offered to help by providing assistance with cat alterations. Local vets are hoping to provide as many as 20 surgeries a month through a program they call “Catsnip,” which is managed by Vicki Chamberlain.
Additionally, starting in March with the grand opening of the Animal Care and Control medical clinic, the shelter will be offering the same service for people who wish to keep the community cats in their neighborhood rather than turn them over to the shelter for euthanasia.
Although Animal Control and local vets will be providing a small scale spay/neuter program for community cats, the county needs a large scale high volume TNR program to really make a difference in cat population and euthanasia rates, according to Davidson.
For questions or concerns, contact Lake County Animal Care and Control at 263-0278. For questions about having feral or community cats altered, please contact Vicki Chamberlain at 263-3958.
