Cat Controversy Continues

More and more Toledo communities have been stricken with a feral cat problem.

Frustrated by this ever-growing problem, Kristen Stricker posted on a Facebook group dedicated to Point Place a photo of feral cats outside her house, captioning “Anyone else have cat problems?” Some responders agreed that they face the same problems, complaining of cat poop and diseases. Others replied that the cats help out with the rodent and bug problem.

A couple of days laters, Courtney Paszkiet posted a photo of seven feral cats outside one house on the group page, commenting: “Just great. Not even all the cats this guy has. One looks like it has worms…skinny with a huge belly. Love the ones who are ‘getting it on’ in the back…tired of this!!!!”

Local governments are taking notice of this issue. On July 21, Sylvania City Council unanimously passed a law that bans feeding wildlife, namely feral cats. (See “Cat Controversy” here).

“We absolutely encourage everyone to work in a cohesive way with their neighbors,” said Mary Westphal, president of the Sylvania City Council, regarding citizens who want to develop Trap-Neuter-Release programs in their neighborhoods.

“I understand why someone would come up with a law like that and be frustrated by large colonies of animals, stray cats,” said Kristi Polus, a South Toledo resident who cares for a colony of feral cats in her neighborhood. “It would be really frustrating to me to live in an area where I had to watch these animals starve just because legally I couldn’t do anything about it.”

Polus has a feeding station outside her house and has recently taken in a stray kitten. She thinks the feral cat problem in her neighborhood stems from one neighbor in particular whose cat population is out of control.

She tried to talk with the neighbor about the problem, but claims the neighbor did not want to get on board. Polus and a fellow neighbor started their own TNR. Together, they split the cost of neutering 13 cats thus far.

Another neighbor of hers also took matters into their own hands. According to Polus, this neighbor told the person with the cat problem that they poisoned the feral cats. Though this story could not be confirmed, Polus noticed most of the cats have disappeared, with only a few returning to the neighborhood a month later.

“There are certainly other ways around this besides taking it out on the animals,” said Polus.
 

More and more Toledo communities have been stricken with a feral cat problem.

Frustrated by this ever-growing problem, Kristen Stricker posted on a Facebook group dedicated to Point Place a photo of feral cats outside her house, captioning “Anyone else have cat problems?” Some responders agreed that they face the same problems, complaining of cat poop and diseases. Others replied that the cats help out with the rodent and bug problem.

A couple of days laters, Courtney Paszkiet posted a photo of seven feral cats outside one house on the group page, commenting: “Just great. Not even all the cats this guy has. One looks like it has worms…skinny with a huge belly. Love the ones who are ‘getting it on’ in the back…tired of this!!!!”

Local governments are taking notice of this issue. On July 21, Sylvania City Council unanimously passed a law that bans feeding wildlife, namely feral cats. (See “Cat Controversy” here).

“We absolutely encourage everyone to work in a cohesive way with their neighbors,” said Mary Westphal, president of the Sylvania City Council, regarding citizens who want to develop Trap-Neuter-Release programs in their neighborhoods.

“I understand why someone would come up with a law like that and be frustrated by large colonies of animals, stray cats,” said Kristi Polus, a South Toledo resident who cares for a colony of feral cats in her neighborhood. “It would be really frustrating to me to live in an area where I had to watch these animals starve just because legally I couldn’t do anything about it.”

Polus has a feeding station outside her house and has recently taken in a stray kitten. She thinks the feral cat problem in her neighborhood stems from one neighbor in particular whose cat population is out of control.

She tried to talk with the neighbor about the problem, but claims the neighbor did not want to get on board. Polus and a fellow neighbor started their own TNR. Together, they split the cost of neutering 13 cats thus far.

Another neighbor of hers also took matters into their own hands. According to Polus, this neighbor told the person with the cat problem that they poisoned the feral cats. Though this story could not be confirmed, Polus noticed most of the cats have disappeared, with only a few returning to the neighborhood a month later.

“There are certainly other ways around this besides taking it out on the animals,” said Polus.