LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Local officials and veterinarians are partnering in an effort to reduce the county's number of unwanted cats, which has resulted in thousands of animals being euthanized annually.

Lake County Animal Care and Control reported that Lake, like many other counties, has a serious cat overpopulation problem.

Unfortunately, that problem has resulted in the county having the highest feline euthanasia rate in the state.

According to shelter statistics, of the 4,000 animals turned into the shelter in 2011, 65 percent – or 2,600 – were cats.

Of those 2,600 cats, 18 percent – or 480 – were adopted or transferred to a rescue; the remaining 2,120 cats were destroyed.

This is a cycle that just keeps repeating year after year, according to Animal Care and Control officials. Without some kind of significant intervention, the cycle will not be broken. 

Many people in the county start out feeding one or two stray cats because they don’t want them to go hungry, not realizing that one or two cats soon leads to eight or nine, according to the report.

Within a few weeks time, they’re now dealing with a colony of 12 to 15 cats, which in turn will continue to grow and reproduce exponentially unless action is taken.

That agency suggested that the appropriate action is spaying or neutering cats in order to stop the cycle, because taking them into the shelter, holding them as stray animals and then trying to adopt them out to a public who doesn’t want them isn’t working.

That approach is costly to the taxpayers, and agency officials suggest that destroying thousands of healthy cats each year isn’t a socially acceptable solution. 

Many agencies work with local groups on “trap neuter release” – or TNR – programs. TNRs are a wonderful idea, but must be properly maintained in order to work, according to Animal Care and Control.

Many people start out with good intentions, spaying and neutering, vaccinating, releasing and feeding colonies of cats only to find out after they start, the property they are using isn’t allowed to be used for that purpose, the agency reported.

First and foremost, with any TNR program, use of the property for this purpose must be established and granted by the property owner. Additionally, in order to maintain a colony in one area, it has to be monitored and fed on a daily basis, animal control officials said. Local rescue groups and volunteers are necessary in order to follow up with this maintenance and care. 

In light of Lake County’s euthanasia status and cat overpopulation problem, local veterinarians have offered to help by providing assistance with cat alterations.

Together, local vets are hoping to provide as many as 20 surgeries a month through a program they call “Catsnip,” which is managed by Vicki Chamberlain.

Additionally, starting in March of this year with the grand opening of Animal Care and Control's new medical clinic, the shelter will offer the same service for those people who wish to keep the community cats in their neighborhood, rather than simply turn them over to the shelter for euthanasia. 

Although local vets and the animal shelter will be providing a small scale spay/neuter program for community cats, what the county really needs is a large-scale, high-volume TNR program to really make a difference in the cat population and euthanasia rates, Animal Care and Control said.

For questions about having feral or community cats altered in your neighborhood, please contact Vicki Chamberlain at 707-263-3958.
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