BENTONVILLE -- Benton County officials showed little enthusiasm for the idea of a county animal shelter when the prospect was raised at the April 25 Quorum Court meeting.
Linda Picken, director of Fabulous Felines serving Northwest Arkansas, approached the justices of the peace to talk about the plight of stay and abandoned cats in the area. Picken said the group has 20 active "fosterers" who provide temporary homes for adoptable cats and kittens.
Trap, neuter and return
Trap, neuter and return is a nonlethal strategy for reducing the number of community cats (feral and stray). At its most basic, the process involves:
• Humanely trapping community cats
• Spaying or neutering them
• Vaccinating them against rabies
• Surgically removing the tip of one ear (a “tipped” ear is the universally recognized sign of a cat who has been spayed or neutered)
• Returning the cats to their home
Source: The Humane Society of the United States
She said in a telephone interview Friday she has 15 to 20 kittens and several adult cats in her own home.
"We receive daily calls about cats and kittens in Benton County that need help, owner surrenders, and ferals or strays who are giving birth to litters all over the county in tremendous numbers," Picken told the Quorum Court.
"Some people neglect to get their pets spayed or neutered, and suddenly you have a hoarder house that needs to be cleaned out for health and safety. If they live in Benton County without access to a shelter, who has room to take them? What do they do? There are colonies of cats and kittens behind many fast-food restaurants and neighborhoods. Left unchecked, this is an explosion of cats that needs your attention. It won't go away."
Picken spoke during the Quorum Court's public comment period and the justices of the peace took no action.
County Judge Bob Clinard said later that operating an animal shelter brings a myriad of problems, and he doesn't have the answers to those problems.
"You look at the Washington County shelter. They've had issues with money and staffing. It was suggested we might have prisoners taking care of the animals. I don't know that we can do that in the first place. In the second place, they're not trained to do it. It's a money pit. There's just no way around it. I feel for those who have animals. They are out there and there's a real problem. But there's just no end to the cost."
Tom Allen, justice of the peace for District 4 and chairman of the county's Finance Committee, echoed Clinard's concerns about the cost of operating a shelter, again pointing to Washington County.
Washington County built its shelter, which opened in 2012, for $2.2 million. The county has added three staff positions and increased the shelter's budget, which was $650,000 in 2014. For 2015, the Washington County Quorum Court cut the shelter's budget to $606,000, a 7 percent decrease.
Allen said he can't see Benton County taking on such an obligation. Benton County now pays the Humane Society for Animals in Rogers to house dogs picked up by the animal control officers of the Sheriff's Office. In 2014, the county spent $43,115 for housing 521 stray dogs, according to accounting records.
"Starting with $2 million in capital and then an annual budget of $600,000? The short answer is 'No.'" he said. "I do see a need for it. I would have to say we're all in this together and this could be a situation where we look at pooling our resources. I don't think a stray cat or a stray dog knows where the city limits or the county lines are."
The problem has been noted by city and county officials in the past. Mayor Kevin Johnston of Gentry was tasked with investigating the problem in 2012 after a meeting of the Benton County Intergovernmental Cooperation Council, made up of the mayors and the county judge and county clerk. Johnston said he contacted other cities that have animal shelters to discuss the question of a countywide service or shelter, but no consensus was reached on what, if anything, to do.
"We compared animal control ordinances and looked at what other cities are doing. What we found is that we're all pretty much doing the same things. We all have the same challenge of funding. It's such a large expense," Johnston said.
Johnston said his city has used help from volunteer groups, the "Tail Waggers" groups in Siloam Springs and Gentry, to improve his city's shelter. He said Gentry takes in dogs, averaging from 10 to 13 at a time, but has no arrangements for handling cats. Johnston said his city is looking into a "trap, neuter and return" program for cats, but is still in the information gathering stage.
Bud Norman, director of animal services for Rogers, said his city's shelter remains full, with a recent count showing 74 dogs and 65 cats. The shelter accepts dogs and cats from within the Rogers city limits and dogs brought in by Bentonville animal control officers under a contract with that city. His annual budget is about $420,000. Norman said that a trap, neuter and return program is the most effective option he sees to the feral cat problem. Norman said building a big new shelter won't address the problem as effectively as doing something to reduce the population.
"I don't believe building another building is the answer. It's just an expensive band-aid," Norman said. "We've got to look at changing our laws and trying new programs."
Norman said the trap, neuter and return concept originated in Europe more than 50 years ago and "migrated" to the United States beginning in the 1990s. He said that type of program has a proven success rate in reducing the feral cat population. Rogers is looking at such a program, but doesn't have a timeline yet on implementing one, he said.
Picken said she is disappointed at the lack of interest from the county and some cities. She said her group and other volunteer efforts are being overwhelmed. Picken said she understands a new shelter won't solve the problem completely, but she still said one is needed.
"They say it'll just fill up," she said. "Well, duh. Yes, it'll fill up with animals that need a nice place they can be adopted from. A nice place people will volunteer to help out and contribute to. It's a serious situation and they are putting their heads in the sand."
NW News on 05/10/2015