Inquirer: Cat lover, city at odds over colony

After getting drawn into the middle of a dog-fight over "Angel" the german shepherd mix a while back, and then witnessing a colleague's drama over a pit bull story, I told myself I'd stay away from animal issues.

Well, no one has ever accused me of being excessively smart.

I got a phone call from an Irate Reader named Jeanie who claims the city is mistreating her because of a cat colony she hosts on her property on University Avenue.

As best as I can tell, there is some disagreement over just how many cats are in the colony (anywhere from 19 to 32, I've been told) and whether Jeanie is in fact one of the city's registered cat colony keepers. She says she is; the city says she isn't. Since it's the city that registers the keepers, well you decide.

For the uninitiated, the cat colony program was set up in 2013 to allow people to oversee feral cat colonies legally. (It had been illegal to do so before.) They do so under the agreement that they trap the cats, have them spayed or neutered, have their ears "tipped" so they are readily identifiable as a cat that's been fixed, and to have them vaccinated.

This keeps the cats from reproducing, hence downsizing the colony, and from spreading diseases through the colony and beyond.

Jeanie's problem started a while back when the owner of the property next door, a small business, complained about the cats spilling over onto his property. Animal Control came in and told Jeanie she had too many cats.

"We (colony keepers) all have too many cats," she said. "That's why they're called 'colonies.'"

Animal Control caught three cats in traps and took them to the Animal Care and Control facility, where they were given whatever kind of treatment they needed and held in isolation.

Jeanie wanted, and still wants, the three cats back, but they have since been located elsewhere, Jeanie told me. The city says they were not returned because the colony is already too big for the available habitat there.

Horsefeathers, Jeanie says. There is no stated limit on colony sizes in the city ordinance that established the program.

That may be true, said Public Works Director Pat Biegler, who oversees Animal Control., but the city does limit colony sizes depending on the available land, "on a case by case basis."

Because the colony is too large, Jeanie must reduce its size, the city says. And because she is not a registered colony keeper, she can keep no more than five cats. Until she does that, she is in violation of the city's ordinance, the city states.

Jeanie contends that because she has not been issued a citation, and she has not, that's proof that she is not in violation of any ordinance.

No, Biegler said in an email to Jeanie.

"Your allegations that you are not in violation because you have not be issued a citation is a false perception," Biegler wrote. "You have not been issued a citation simply because Animal Control wanted to provide you the opportunity to work with them in resolving this situation before taking any legal action."

Speaking of legal action, Jeanie said she is shopping around for a criminal lawyer to defend her if she is written a citation, and a civil attorney in case she wants to sue the city.

Take a number, Jeanie.

Seen something that needs attention? Contact me at 706-571-8570 or mowen@ledger-enquirer.com.

This story was originally published March 15, 2015 at 9:50 PM with the headline "Inquirer: Cat lover, city at odds over colony."