Posted: Friday, November 2, 2007 12:00 am
Cats were in the news again this week. Here's a prediction: They will be in the news forever or until the city and the county tackle this problem with all fours.
Our story Thursday told of a dozen cats that apparently were abandoned and were living, more or less wild, under a house whose tenants had left. The neighbors were feeding them and trying to catch them to have them fixed, a laudable effort and more than the community has the right to expect from individuals on their own.
With the help of the cities, Linn County has done something about cats. It allocated $25,000 to private groups that could round up feral cats and have them fixed. Albany contributed $10,000, and Lebanon and Sweet Home $2,500 each. That $40,000 has now been spent. County Commissioner Cliff Wooten reports that 973 cats were fixed and released, 382 males and 591 females. This is a good start. Let's hope the program is renewed.
But if wild cats keep proliferating anyway, more will have to be done. If that happens, whether we like it or not, eventually either the cities or the county or both will have to embark on a program of licensing pet cats and getting rid of the others just like stray dogs. (hh)