The occasion is scheduled for Feb. 16 from 6 to 8 p.m. at 1713 Lincoln Road. The online forum is complimentary to participate in and is for caretakers, homeowners and local leaders who wish to find out more about the legislation. A quick introduction of TNR will exist too.
In 2021, Wickliffe joined Willowick, Eastlake, Mentor, Mentor-on-the-Lake and Fairport Harbor in ratifying an ordinance promoting the responsible care of stray and feral cats through TNR. This dates back to 2015 when the first ordinance was passed in Willowick, said Cindy Valerio, founder and president of Community Cat Companions, an organization that oversees TNR ordinances and programs in these cities.
The organization not only covers Lake County, but Ashtabula County as well.
Originally, Community Cat Companions was going to have a forum specific to Wickliffe to explain the ordinance to their residents.
“We already went out and explained it to (City) Council back in the fall, but then we decided to open it up because it has been quite some time,” Valerio said. “A lot of people don’t know about the ordinance. Maybe when the ordinance passed at that particular point and time, they weren’t feeding stray and feral cats. They had no reason to be interested in it.
“People move in and move out, so we decided to open it up to all the councils, police chiefs, building department people and anybody responding to resident complaints,” she added. “We’ve actually been contacted by people from other cities and other counties who want to attend to learn about how we do it so they can perhaps start it in their communities.”
With having the introduction on TNR at the forum, attendees can understand the process from beginning to end, which includes how people who live in these communities can register and what can be done moving forward, if so desired.
“We’re there to support our colony caregivers throughout,” Valerio said. “We don’t just do it and walk away.”
A TNR organization, Valerio founded Community Cat Companions in 2012.
When it very first started out, ordinances for TNR were non-existent in many communities. Since that time, Valerio has worked with city councils and other groups to initiate the regulations, as well as use them to implement TNR.
“In the areas we’ve been working in for some time, not just the areas that have ordinances per say but where we have done a lot of work, we get fewer and fewer calls all the time,” Valerio said. “I’m assuming that’s because there are fewer cats out there reproducing.
“We’ve seen significant reductions in the numbers of cats in the colonies that we’ve done,” she added. “Areas where we’ve done less work is where we’re primarily getting more calls, so we have shifted away a little bit from just standing back and waiting for people to contact us to being more proactive, and going in the areas.”
Cindy Valerio of Euclid is the creator and president of Community Cat Companions, an organization that works to humanely reduce feral cat populations in local areas. (Submitted photo)In addition to Community Cat Companions celebrating their 10th anniversary, this year will be the organization’s third year for their Operation Snip and Tip program, a free program for people who reside in trailer parks.
“We notice that a lot of the kittens that we were pulling were coming out of these types of multi-family places,” Valerio said. “We have been pulling hundreds of kittens and fixing cats in trailer parks over the last few years. We did, the first year, 82 adults from two parks. After that first year in those two parks, we saw one litter of kittens.”
The organization has about 40 volunteers, half a dozen of which being specific to TNR and who are on the ground trapping. During the forum, the organization will not just be registering new colonies, however provide colony updates for anyone who’s been previously registered.
“We try to do that every couple years so we have an idea,” Valerio said. “I would encourage anybody who has any kind of interest or to pass this information along if they know of anybody feeding cats. This is something they should attend if at all possible because there’s so much information and so many different services we provide.”
Among the volunteers on the ground trapping are Faith Hunter and her husband, Bob, who both volunteer for the Fairport Harbor group, which formed in 2017. Like many of the trappers, the two did trapping on their own beforehand.
“When we had opportunity for this group to form, we jumped in,” Faith said. “We’ve trapped a lot out of Fairport this year. There’s been a lot of animals that were adopted and we think they were released after people went back to work, so we have been incredibly busy this year with trapping cats and kittens.”
Both Faith and her husband are finding that many of the cats they’re finding have been absconded, a disturbing trend, she said.
“A lot of times, I think people are of the opinion that cats can fend for themselves, so they don’t have as much difficulty putting them out, but that’s not always the case,” she said. “That’s what makes it so difficult. It’s difficult with feral cats because every single one of them is due to a human being abandoning them or neglecting them, but the ones accustomed to being inside and then put out — it’s particularly difficult with them because they don’t know how to live outside.”
The hardest part of trapping for the couple is seeing the cats in some of the conditions they find them in and that it’s one of those jobs they hate that they have to do.
“In Fairport, our little logo says it takes a village to help one cat at a time,” Faith said. “We all see the ugly side of it.”
She believes the forum is important because there’s just strength in numbers.
“It’s not just our group in Fairport,” she said. “This is spread over the whole county and it’s important people understand they can do something in their community, and have the support they would need if they want to get involved.
“Having not only the financial support, however emotional support to talk with other people and to work with people. We really do try to help each other,” she added. “That is so important when you go through this since it is really difficult work. There’s a specific quantity of stress out that you get.”
