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WILKES-BARRE — Trouble is brewing in Wilkes-Barre over a proposal for new city ordinances with the aims of keep the feral cat population in check, with the animal enforcement officer proposing them characterizing them as common sense solutions and animal activists suggesting they are cruel to the cats.

The proposed ordinances, suggested by Animal Control Officer Adam Olver, will come before Wilkes-Barre City Council for the first time on Monday, and Olver said he hopes the changes could help reduce the issues with feral cats many citizens of Wilkes-Barre have been reporting.

However, Olver suggests the issues may be a bit overblown, saying that it’s only certain sections of the city that are facing serious issues with the feral cat population.

“It’s not like the entire city is overrun with cats,” Olver joked.

Instead, he pointed to a handful of problem areas, including Kirby Park, where a Times Leader photographer found numerous cats, including newly born kittens.

However, he did say the cats could pose a public health issue. While he said there have been no reports of a feral cat with rabies in Wilkes-Barre, let alone one transferring any sort of disease to a human, he did say a fight between a cat and the wrong raccoon could cause problems.

Olver said the city formerly used a system of trap-and-remove, which is to say feral cats would be trapped and taken to the SPCA of Luzerne County. But Olver said the city has mostly switched to a TNR, or trap-neuter-release, system, which is handled by local volunteer groups.

However, Olver said that the system has little oversight.

“We don’t even know if they are trapping and releasing,” he said.

Feral cats have been a frequent topic of complaints at city council meetings, with animal rights activists saying not enough is being done to help the animals, while some property owners saying not enough is being done to prevent property damage.

As such, Olver proposed a series of ordinances which he hopes will serve as a happy medium of sorts for both sides. Olver provided a copy of the relevant proposed ordinances to a reporter on Thursday.

Under Olver’s proposal, a caretaker of feral cats would be able to register a colony of cats with animal control. It would be up to the caretaker to spay or neuter each member of the colony, get it rabies shots and mark it with an identification collar and a microchip.

Caretakers would need to receive approval from their neighbors to begin taking care of a colony. Caretakers would require approval of at least 75 percent of neighbors in a one block radius of the site of the colony.

The proposed ordinances also set forth a schedule for feeding, saying colonies can only be fed between sunrise and sunset. Olver said this would be done to reduce the risk of attracting raccoons and skunks — animals with the highest risk of rabies in Pennsylvania — and potential conflicts between the wild animals and the feral cats.

Additionally, Olver proposes a licensing program for cats, including indoor, outdoor and feral cats part of a registered colony. Cat owners would need to pay $6.50 for each spayed or neutered cat annually, or $8.50 for non-spayed or non-neutered cats.

This licensing fee would be due in the first three months of each year. An additional fee would be imposed for those who pay the licensing fee late, in addition to a $50 fine, but Olver said he would only be fining people who need to be repeatedly reminded. Concessions would be made for those who move to the city or become pet owners after the due date for the licensing fee.

Olver said he thinks these proposed changes are fair, as they allow the neighborhoods to directly decide how to deal with the cats that are in that neighborhood.

“It’s diplomatic and democratic,” he said.

But local animal rights activists involved with the organizations responsible for TNR say Olver’s proposals are ridiculous.

Dawn Mendygral, of Happy Hearts and Tails, along with Brenda Buckler, of Whiskers World, spoke with a Times Leader reporter on Saturday about the proposal. While neither woman lives in Wilkes-Barre, both of their organizations are active in trapping, neutering and releasing cats in the city.

Mendygral and Buckler took aim specifically at Olver’s idea of neighborhoods approving colonies on a block-by-block basis. They said that, while it may seem as though this system would save cats, it will likely only lead to more getting killed.

According to them, most feral cats brought to the SPCA are euthanized, while those in a registered colony who underwent the TNR process would be allowed to roam free. But on a block-by-block basis, they said there’s nothing stopping a cat from wandering from a “safe” block, as it were, to one where they aren’t welcome.

What’s more, they said that trapping and removing cats on some blocks will just allow the remaining cats to spread out further, expanding their territory, perpetuating the problem.

“It will not work,” Buckler said simply.

According to them, TNR is the only logical solution, as it slowly leads to a decline in the population. Trapping and removing allows the cats who weren’t caught to continue to breed.

“You’re gonna be trapping them for the rest of your natural life,” Mendygral said.

Mendygral and Buckler said they are looking for ordinances that officially set the TNR system in stone on a citywide basis. Mendygral said similar ordinances are in place in cities like Scranton and Sunbury to great success.

With council hearing Olver’s proposals for the first time on Monday, the one thing that is clear is that this issue won’t be immediately solved.

Until then, Olver said there are numerous ways to deter cats from taking up residence on your property, including various natural chemicals that cats have a distaste for. Sonic apparatuses are also available that will emit a frequency that will scare cats away.

Olver did emphasize that anyone found to be purposely poisoning or killing cats will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

However, Olver did suggest another solution.

If people stopped feeding them, they would go look for food elsewhere, he suggested, saying the cats would leave the area if they realize food isn’t readily available.

Mendygral and Buckler even disagreed with this, though.

“It’s cruelty to stop feeding them,” Buckler said, saying the cats have come to rely on the food.

Mendygral went on to say that people feeding the cats actually prevents a worse public nuisance, as readily available food prevents them from digging through trash bags for it.

While Mendygral and Buckler did admit there are deterrents property owners could use to dissuade cats from coming on their property, their message was a clear one.

“The answer is TNR,” Buckler said. “(Olver) doesn’t get that.”

A group of feral kittens were found in Wilkes-Barre’s Kirby Park recently.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_TTL051619Cats4.jpg.optimal.jpgA group of feral kittens were found in Wilkes-Barre’s Kirby Park recently.

Some city residents are complaining about issues caused by feral cats. Animal enforcement officer Adam Olver has proposed several ordinances to deal with the issue.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_TTL051619Cats5.jpg.optimal.jpgSome city residents are complaining about issues caused by feral cats. Animal enforcement officer Adam Olver has proposed several ordinances to deal with the issue.

Some city residents are complaining about issues caused by feral cats. Animal enforcement officer Adam Olver has proposed several ordinances to deal with the issue.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_TTL051619Cats2.jpg.optimal.jpgSome city residents are complaining about issues caused by feral cats. Animal enforcement officer Adam Olver has proposed several ordinances to deal with the issue.

Wilkes-Barre’s animal enforcement officer, Adam Olver, has proposed several ordinances aimed at dealing with feral cats. Animal rights activists have called the proposals cruel to the animals.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_TTL051619Cats1.jpg.optimal.jpgWilkes-Barre’s animal enforcement officer, Adam Olver, has proposed several ordinances aimed at dealing with feral cats. Animal rights activists have called the proposals cruel to the animals.

Some city residents are complaining about issues caused by feral cats. Animal enforcement officer Adam Olver has proposed several ordinances to deal with the issue.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_TTL051619Cats3.jpg.optimal.jpgSome city residents are complaining about issues caused by feral cats. Animal enforcement officer Adam Olver has proposed several ordinances to deal with the issue.
WB feral cats becoming hot-button issue

By Patrick Kernan

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Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @PatKernan