Post by jackryan on Nov 1, 2006 2:58:19 GMT -5
Is the Humane Society and the Lawrence county animal control officer allowed to do this? Seems to me it would create some type of liability in the lease for them to be releasing and allowing an animal to run at large they have pucblicly acknowledge "can be dangerous", to use their own words. I don't want these animals in my area, on my land or on the public hunting areas I've supported in the past and used. I want the DNR and law enforcement to enforce the law, arrest and prosecute these people to the fullest extent of the law for any violation occuring.
www.tmnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1505&Itemid=43
Humane Society uses $5,000 grant to avoid euthanizing wild cats
By MIKE RICKETTS, miker@tmnews.com
BEDFORD — While Bedford’s animal control officer J.D. Ramsay has seen it all, feral or wild cats are one of his biggest problems.
And the cats were once a much bigger problem for the White River Humane Society, where Ramsay takes the cats after capturing them inside a wire cage.
But since March, the local humane society, through a $5,000 grant, has solved part of the problem by sending the cats to a veterinarian to have them vaccinated and spayed or neutered and then released back into the wild.
“We were doing so much euthanizing and we really didn’t want to do that,” said Shelly Johns, assistant manager at WRHS.
Johns said 43 feral cats have been captured and then released since the program started. The cats have been re-released all over the county. And once the feral cats are released, they can become useful in some instances.
“There are some people who want them on their farms in the barns to catch mice,” Johns said.
The cats, said Johns who has released some of the felines at her home, are wild and can be dangerous if cornered.
But generally, it’s difficult to corner one.
“I catch a glimpse of them about every two or three weeks,” she added. “And the only way I catch a glimpse of them then is when the dog barks at them.”
Johns said spaying and neutering the wild animals will hopefully reduce the number of stray cats in Lawrence County without the need to kill any.
The grant — obtained through the Summerlee Foundation in Texas — however, is over in a year and can only be re-granted if the program is a success.
Times-Mail Assistant Managing Editor Mike Ricketts welcomes comments at 277-7255 or by e-mail at miker@tmnews.com .
www.tmnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1505&Itemid=43
Humane Society uses $5,000 grant to avoid euthanizing wild cats
By MIKE RICKETTS, miker@tmnews.com
BEDFORD — While Bedford’s animal control officer J.D. Ramsay has seen it all, feral or wild cats are one of his biggest problems.
And the cats were once a much bigger problem for the White River Humane Society, where Ramsay takes the cats after capturing them inside a wire cage.
But since March, the local humane society, through a $5,000 grant, has solved part of the problem by sending the cats to a veterinarian to have them vaccinated and spayed or neutered and then released back into the wild.
“We were doing so much euthanizing and we really didn’t want to do that,” said Shelly Johns, assistant manager at WRHS.
Johns said 43 feral cats have been captured and then released since the program started. The cats have been re-released all over the county. And once the feral cats are released, they can become useful in some instances.
“There are some people who want them on their farms in the barns to catch mice,” Johns said.
The cats, said Johns who has released some of the felines at her home, are wild and can be dangerous if cornered.
But generally, it’s difficult to corner one.
“I catch a glimpse of them about every two or three weeks,” she added. “And the only way I catch a glimpse of them then is when the dog barks at them.”
Johns said spaying and neutering the wild animals will hopefully reduce the number of stray cats in Lawrence County without the need to kill any.
The grant — obtained through the Summerlee Foundation in Texas — however, is over in a year and can only be re-granted if the program is a success.
Times-Mail Assistant Managing Editor Mike Ricketts welcomes comments at 277-7255 or by e-mail at miker@tmnews.com .