Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
The Linn County Board of Commissioners is asking cities within the county to help fund a grant program for spaying and neutering feral cats.
County Commissioner Cliff Wooten approached the Sweet Home City Council to explain the new program and ask for the city’s support last week.
Linn County has created a $25,000 fund for the program, Wooten said. The funds are to be used for feral cats only and not for domestic cat health issues.
The funds are paid directly to veterinarians for the sterilizations provided at the request of a participating cat care agency, he said. Sick and diseased cats will be taken to Linn County Dog Control to be euthanized without any charge to the participating agency.
To qualify for funds, a cat care agency must process at least 25 cats per month in addition to the average number they currently process on a monthly basis, Wooten said.
“We’re just attempting to make a stab to curb the population of cats,” Wooten said. The board is hoping that cities might participate and contribute funds to the program.
This is something the city can look at and see if it can add to the effort, Mayor Craig Fentiman said. He will direct it to the council’s Administration and Finance Committee.
The council needs to “see how much money is available first, before we start committing,” Councilor Jim Gourley said.
Councilor Jim Bean said the fund the county has established is inadequate.
“The $25,000 is not the answer,” he said. “It’s going to take a lot of money to continue your project.
“I have asked a few people where I work and other citizens, and I’m surprised how many of them would be willing to pay a licensing fee for their cats to help sustain this program even though it’s not their cats that’ll be neutered under this program,” Bean said.
Wooten said he thinks licensing cats could be a problem.
“No one owns a cat,” he said. “A cat owns you. I don’t have a cat. I have a cat in my house that owns my wife.”
The county board put the program together after a series of “rough arguments” between commissioners and a split decision on Feb. 27, with Commissioner John Lindsey voting no on the project, Lindsey said later. Since then, the board awarded a grant to the Kitty Angel Team on March 13, and he supported that decision. The organization agreed to process at least 25 cats per month in the Lebanon and Sweet Home areas.
Lindsey said he opposed the program because it didn’t go far enough.
“All states are facing problems with cats, and people being irresponsible with cats,” he said. “We need to have a disciplinary component with this.”
For instance, a barking dog can bring punitive sanctions, he said. There is no action against people who start feeding cats and allowing them to breed.
“This group (KAT) met the criteria that were set out,” Lindsey said. “As near as I can tell, these individuals are not involved in any political organizations. They’re volunteers. Let’s see them solve a problem.
“If they need a little bit of resources to get a job done, I don’t have a problem with that if it helps the community.”
“I’ve been vocal on this,” Lindsey said. “Cats are not a problem in rural areas. Cats are a problem in cities where this (feral breeding) is allowed to happen. It was the cities complaining about this.”
The big question, then, is where is the money from the cities to help solve the problem, he said.
“We’re not looking to break anybody’s bank,” Lindsey said. “If the three major cities buy in, in fairness, I can take a look at this and say we’re going to solve a problem.”