Feral Cat Population A Hidden Problem

ROGERS -- Four kittens crept out of the trees near Lake Atalanta toward the food Rosie Paquet scattered on the ground.

Two months ago there were six. One comes and goes, another is probably dead, Paquet said. She's been told they're probably from the same litter and dropped off at the lake by someone who didn't want them.

She's tried to catch the kittens, but she can't get close. She estimates the cats are about 4 months old. If she can't catch them soon -- and get them spayed or neutered -- there will be more. It's too late to find homes for them. They've lived too long in the woods.

"Nobody will take them," Paquet said.

Feral or homeless cats live in the shadows.

City rules don't always cover unowned cats. Animal control officers have trouble catching them. A cat that has never known people is wild and, if sent to a shelter, will likely be put down.

People find cats living under a porch, a car, or in a field every single day in Northwest Arkansas, said Romaine Kobilsek, business manager for Springdale-based Spay Arkansas.

Spay Arkansas provides low-cost spay and neuter services. The organization advocates for a trap, neuter, return policy to manage cat colonies. If cats set up housekeeping, and they are removed, other cats are likely to move in. Cats that are humanely trapped, spayed or neutered and returned to where they were found will have a good existence, Kobilsek said. Veterinarians tip the ear of a feral cat as a mark that it has been spayed or neutered. Feral cats are also vaccinated for rabies during treatment. If a person plans to feed the cats, it's best to make sure they won't multiply, she said.

"If you ask the cats, I think they would rather take the chance of living out in the wild than be put down," she said.

She estimates 500 feral cats are brought to the low-cost spay and neuter clinic every year from across Northwest Arkansas and Missouri and Oklahoma. If the clinic had more money, she could do more, she said. She estimates $2,000 would cover a clinic day. Last year, they spayed or neutered more than 70 cats on a $5 feral day.

"It just seems like a never-ending job," Kobilsek said.

Animal control officers would rather face just about anything other than a feral cat, said Matt Colson, assistant manager at the Bella Vista Animal Shelter. The shelter does not take feral cats.

When people call about bringing in a cat, he asks if the animal runs away, hisses when they get close or if they can pet it. A kitten born in a wild environment can be tamed, he said. However, the shelter is no more equipped to tame an adult cat that has never interacted with a person than it is to house a raccoon or a fox, he said.

"Basically, they're a wild animal," Colson said of feral cats.

He tells people who call about feral animals the truth. If animal control brings a feral cat in, it will be put down. If they trap the animal, it can be spayed or neutered, and that will make it less territorial.

The independent personality displayed by some cats doesn't translate into survival skills, Colson said. People think that if cats are abandoned, they will learn to forage.

"They won't," he said.

Cats need people, Colson said.

"We can't adopt out an aggressive animal," said Tony Rankin, program manager at Fayetteville Animal Services. Cat colonies exist and doing nothing only allows the animals to breed.

A Fayetteville city ordinance approved in 2012 allows local animal welfare organizations approved by animal services to set up caretakers for feral cat colonies. Spenser's Legacy Animal Rescue is the first group the city has approved.

Urban cat colonies cluster around restaurants and motels where they scavenge food scraps, said Diane Tyler, founder of Spenser's Legacy.

"You don't see them, so you don't know they're there," Tyler said.

Cats have to be taught to hunt or they won't survive, she said.

"Some cats will sit there and say 'Look, a mouse.' And other cats are like, 'Oh, yummy'," she said.

The problem of feral cats starts with strays dropped off in parking lots, she said. Feral cats are often the second generation of abandoned pets.

"Nobody gets them neutered. That's the big problem," Tyler said.

She takes in cats that no one else will, but there are too many and too few adoptions. Some come around sooner than others, she said.

"You can't make a judgment off a first impression," said Mike Emery, spokesman for the Washington County Lester C. Howick Animal Shelter.

The Washington County shelter has a veterinarian to spay or neuter the animals. Cats get an initial medical treatment and will be allowed to "chill out" for a day or so to see if they are frightened or feral, Emery said.

A Rogers ordinance requires any free-roaming cat to be spayed or neutered, vaccinated and microchipped. The owners must have a have a city license for the cat.

Cats are part of the limit of four animals, any combination of dogs and cats, residents may have, according to Bentonville ordinance. Bentonville uses the Rogers Animal Shelter.

Animal control officers in Rogers may be sent out to check a report of homeless cats like those at Lake Atalanta, but they'll probably come back empty-handed, said Daylen Schumacher, assistant shelter manager. They aren't friendly strays, he said.

"Cats like that are very, very hard to catch," Schumacher said. "They know how to hide and escape,"

Rogers staff members are researching a trap, neuter and release rogram to bring before City Council, he said.

Paquet said she is at a dead-end for the cats at Lake Atalanta. She's caught a dozen other animals in her walks around the lake that have gone to homes. A local connection who helped her place those animals moved away.

She's called rescue organizations around the area. People are sympathetic, but the slots for cats are full. She's called animal control, but the cats are still there. She's taken in strays before, but her home is full.

"Every day, I hate that I can't do anything for them," Paquet said.