City leaders to hear more about feral cats

By: Christopher Cakey / The Citizen

Tuesday, August 19, 2008 4:06 PM EDT

Feral felines continue to be a topic of conversation among Auburn city officials.
City councilors will again discuss the city's cat population Thursday at a work session meeting. Rita Sarnicola, of the Animal Resource Center, will also give a presentation on the subject during the meeting.

This will be the second of such presentations this month. At its last work session meeting on Aug. 7, councilors discussed humane population control with the local organization Feral Cat Friends.

Feral Cat Friends has held clinics at which volunteer veterinarians spay or neuter, test and vaccinate captured feral cats in order to release them. This technique controls the population by creating steady colonies that do not reproduce, representatives said during the meeting.

The city is inviting local groups working with feral cats in an attempt to solve its own issues with the animals, Auburn Mayor Michael Quill said at the time.

Local veterinarians have estimated that there are thousands of feral cats living within Auburn's city limits, and city hall receives consistent complaints from residents about the animals.

There will be no session for the public to be heard during Thursday's 4 p.m. meeting.

The Citizens' Say

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There are 5 comment(s)

brew1234 wrote on Aug 19, 2008 11:37 PM:

" In the area I live in these feral cats are worth treating well as they control the rodent population. Our towns are by rivers and ocean causeways and the rat population is huge. I would think that with the river and landfill in Auburn you must also have rats in abundance. Without these cats you would be overun. We have a benefit fundraiser called the straycat strut that is held yearly with entertainment, raffles and a buffet to raise funds for nuetering feral cats and giving them rabies shots. You have to realize that we need these cats but not overbreeding and rabid and sick. "

karl wrote on Aug 19, 2008 8:08 PM:

" anonymous, what bottle exactly have you emptied into your gullet this afternoon?
How many proof was it?
Don't go driving anywhere--you don't want to hit another pet and not stop, as you usually don't...
"city rabbits"?!?! Eating them?!? I honestly have no idea what you're talking about?
The only thing I've said about cats is what I ALWAYS say about cats:
"BOO to cats!" "

The Truth wrote on Aug 19, 2008 5:51 PM:

" License cats just like dogs ... no license, euthanasia. "

Farmer's Gal wrote on Aug 19, 2008 5:22 PM:

" I just took several cats to one of these clinics. It can be really tough to catch the kitties, and though it is a very reasonable fee compared to what you'd pay at the vet, it adds up fast. Still, one understands there are expenses involved which have to be covered, even working with volunteers.

The workers were very nice, wonderful folks really, but clearly overworked and in danger of letting things slip through the cracks.

If Auburn really wants to do something about the feral cat problem, the city needs to FUND things more -- more staff, less fee to the people who do the hard work of catching and bringing the kitties in to clinics, etc.

No "chinese chicken" dishes, please -- if people were more responsible about their pets in the first place, we wouldn't have the problem. But now we do, we have to go from where we are -- and it costs money to properly address ANY problem in a city (or the surrounding countryside). "

anonymous wrote on Aug 19, 2008 4:25 PM:

" If Karl can eat them(he calls them city rabbits) maybe the rest of us should try it. "

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