by Maeve Sowles

On a July Tuesday evening about 9:30 p.m., I heard cats yowling outside my bedroom window. Dick and I went outside to find four kittens running around, frightened and confused. I got a bowl of warm milk and cat food to lure them closer. Indeed, they were hungry. We were able to gather them up into a big dog kennel with a litter box, food, water and towel inside so they would be safe and warm for the night. Dick planned to take them to Greenhill Humane Society the next morning.

Dick called Greenhill and was told they are closed Wednesday and Thursday. They will not take cats from outside the city limits, plus they have a wait list! He called Lane County Animal Control and they were not open until 1:00 p.m. He loaded the kittens into the truck and drove to the County facility; the people there said they don’t take cats anymore! He was shocked. We have two neutered, indoor cats and a one-year-old dog. Our pet plate is full! Dick was leaving town the next morning and I had a full schedule that did not include four kittens! He brought them to my workplace and I called a friend that works at a vet clinic. Their clinic was already housing three litters of kittens and an expecting female. The vet gave me the number of a woman who organizes the Stray Cat Adopt-a-Thon. She said she would post my request for fostering kittens onto their internet alert service. All I could do was keep the kittens and wait. Wednesday evening I got a call from the Cottage Grove Humane Society who offered to foster the litter once she had room in her facility. She would meet me at the Adopt-A-Thon on Friday and take the kittens. She planned to vaccinate them and place them in Greenhill for adoption, once room was available. These women were very helpful to me and "saved" these kittens. We share a common concern about too many cats without homes. I had come to care about these little creatures. I think every pet should have a loving home, should be neutered, and should be managed responsibly by the owners. I hope these four kittens find such a home. I will never know and I cried as I drove away.

The cat crisis is worsening without a program in place to address the excess cats. People need an option other than releasing litters out on the roadsides and in the parks. For example, one sensitive area is the wetlands near Greenhill. People think if they release a litter out there “someone else” will take care of it, or the cats will take care of themselves. This is not the cats’ fault…they do what comes naturally. Unfortunately for these cats, a feral life is one of fear, hunger, disease and death. Even free roaming pets are subject to fleas, ticks and diseases; injuries by raccoons, dogs, cougar and coyotes; fights with other cats to defend territory; collisions with cars; and abuse by uncaring people.

The local volunteers in the Stray Cat Alliance and veterinarians are overwhelmed by the growing population of stray and feral cats. Neither Eugene nor Lane County is funding the county facility for handling unwanted cats. There is a facility, there are people working there, and yet they will not take in cats. (Greenhill will take Veneta’s cats and Springfield has an arrangement with the County.)

I have not yet mentioned the impact the cat problem has on birds and other wildlife. Cats are domestic animals brought to the US by humans. “Cats kill hundreds of millions of birds, and probably more than a billion small mammals, in the United States each year,” reports the American Bird Conservancy. Several studies show that even well fed cats kill birds and wildlife. For more information on Cats Indoors! The Campaign for Safer Birds and Cats, see www.abcbirds.org.

As an Auduboner, I encourage you to speak out for the birds. Phone calls and letters of concern are needed. There is an Animal Regulation Advisory Task Force discussing the cat issue this summer. Please write or call and voice your concerns that the County is not performing the important task of animal control. Our agencies need to work together to provide this needed, if unpleasant, service.

To register cat complaints:
Lane Co. Commissioners: 682-4203
Lane County Animal Control Facility: 682-3645 or 682-3647
City of Eugene, Mayor and City Council: Michelle 682-8478
Animal Regulation Advisory Task Force. Submit written options to:
David Suchart, Director
Lane County Management Services
125 E. 8th Ave., Eugene, OR 97401

Advocacy advice: remember that the person on the phone did not create the situation. Please be cordial.