Cat plan has animal lovers hissing

Iowa town’s proposal to euthanize feral felines doesn’t sit well with local officials

By Greg Bock, gbock@altoonamirror.com
Altoona Mayor Wayne Hippo said it’s unlikely the city would adopt a plan similar to one Randolph, Iowa, has for getting rid of an overpopulation of stray cats.

If officials of the small Iowa town get their way, stray cats would have a $5 bounty on their heads.

‘‘Certainly, that concept hasn’t come up,’’ Hippo said, adding that it probably won’t, either. ‘‘No, I suggest if that were proposed in Altoona, we would have an angry mob with pitchforks come after us.’’

Hippo said the issue of stray cats comes up from time to time, and complaints fall on the city’s dog law officer, John Iorio.

The question of whether there are enough resources to properly address strays and feral cats —cats that have gone wild — has come up.

But any changes probably would involve working with area groups like the Central Pennsylvania Humane Society, as opposed to putting a price on the creatures’ heads, Hippo said.

But what to do about feral cats isn’t clear cut.

‘‘We can’t keep them all,’’ said Ingrid Healy of the Humane Society. ‘‘Euthanasia exists. If people spayed and neutered, there wouldn’t be euthanasia.’’

Feral cats are a problem throughout Blair County, not just the city, Healy said. She called the Iowa plan a ‘‘travesty’’ and said it also doesn’t address the core problem.

‘‘It gives people this financial incentive to clean up a problem people created anyway,’’ she said.

Because feral cats live in colonies, called clowders, taking one out of the mix just opens up room for another one, Healy said.

The Humane Society takes in about 3,000 cats every year, with many arriving in late summer after unwanted litters are born.

‘‘It’s not unusual to get 40 to 50 a day,’’ Healy said.

Washington D.C.-based Alley Cat Allies advocates what is commonly called ‘‘Trap-Neuter-Release.’’

The group’s president, Becky Robinson, said trapping, neutering or spaying feral cats before releasing them back into the colony is catching on in Pennsylvania, even if only at the grass-roots level.

“A feral cat is not a candidate for adoption,’’ Robinson said Wednesday, adding that once a feline grows from a kitten, it’s no longer, and will never be, a domestic animal. ‘‘It’s never going to be a lap cat.’’

Robinson said the method is being used in a few cities such as Bethlehem and Pittsburgh, but the biggest obstacle to the method is a lack of free or low- cost neutering services. Most efforts are by individuals working in their neighborhoods to trap and fix as many cats as they can.

Healy said the method works, but she stressed it’s a lot of work. Feral cats that are neutered or spayed are marked with an ear clip in case they’re trapped again.

Feral cats aren’t considered game by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, but releasing a trapped feral cat onto state lands is not allowed, commission spokesman Jerry Feaser said.

‘‘We advocate trap, neuter,’’ Feaser said.

Feaser also said feral cat populations can wreak havoc on bird populations in some areas, too, but overall, they’re not something the commission deals with.

D Black, executive director of the Cambria County Humane Society, said the Iowa proposal also could lead to other problems, such as bounty hunters getting scratched and bitten by potentially rabid cats.

‘‘People don’t realize how dangerous they are,’’ she said.

In 2007, the Cambria County shelter brought in 1,255 cats, 444 of them either wild, aggressive or ill, she said. In the last 12 years, she’s seen the number of unwanted cats out pace unwanted puppies.

Black believes no one solution exits, and she placed the responsibility on pet owners.

‘‘Don’t abandon and spay and neuter,’’ she said.

Mirror Staff Writer Greg Bock is at 946-7446.