Abandoned cat problem needs attention
There appears to be a growing problem with free-roaming felines on Fort Myers Beach.
According to Beach resident Jo Ann Knobloch, stray cats that have not been neutered or spayed have been multiplying on the island due to people abandoning them. This is not a new problem.
Knobloch should know. She has been a volunteer -or what is called a dedicated caretaker at Lee County Animal Services- and has been involved within the program called “Trap Neuter Release or Return” regarding the methodology of controlling stray cat overpopulation for more than seven years now. The program involves kittens and cats being humanely trapped, sterilized, medically treated and returned to the outdoor locations where they were found. Keeping those returned cats fed is another part of the volunteer work.
“There has been a problem with people that leave town whether they have foreclosures or other issues or decide they don’t want the animal since it is not a kitten anymore and leave their cats outside. And, they are not fixed,” said Knobloch. “That is causing this entire problem.”
On Nov. 17, she spoke at a FMB Town Council meeting, informed them of the issue (the second time in two years) and requested a committee or a coalition be formed to address the matter. Knobloch said she has fixed hundreds of cats, and would like a more structured way to include more people in her quest to rid the multiplication of abandoned cats.
Councilwoman Summer Stockton, who has been involved with feeding cats near her business on San Carlos Island, knows of the issue on both Fort Myers Beach and on SCI. She plans to bring up the issue during Councilmembers’ Items and Reports at the Dec. 8 meeting with hopes that her fellow members would agree to place it on a future workshop to discuss.
“This shouldn’t be (Jo Ann’s) responsibility if it is a Town problem,” Stockton said. “The ideal situation would be to have 10-12 people designated and get money for the food. It’s hard to ask people to do all the TNR work and have to pay for it all too.”
Right now, community members have taken it upon themselves to feed stray cat colonies or trap them for TNR. Knobloch and Stockton would like have designated areas assigned on the Beach so that the issue could be tackled in a more organized manner.
“We need people to donate the time to do the trapping and the feeding,” said Knobloch. “The feeding is important too. Once the money is invested in these cats, we need to keep up the feeding.”
If a committee or a coalition were to be formed, the possibility of grants could be investigated and possible fundraisers could be on tap to raise money for feeding and vet work. Stockton would like to serve as Council liaison and be one of the neighborhood watch trappers.
Lee County TNR (Operation Spray Our Strays) program is a free, non-lethal, more humane solution. It’s trap-neuter-return method is considered the most effective way to improve the quality of life for feral or stray cats and reduce their numbers.
Information about the free service that includes spay or neuter, rabies shot and microchipping can be obtained by emailing spay@leegov.com or calling 533-9234. Flea treatment is $10, FIV/FELV testing is $15 and de-worming is $10 additionally.
The process also includes a “tipping” of the cat’s ear to show the animal has been microchipped. That procedure helps with showing trappers that that cat does not need attention, but some people do not like it. Regular sterilization fees are $50 per male and $75 per female if one is uncomfortable with the “tipping.”
Yesterday (Dec. 2), the Lee County Board of County Commissioners approved to repeal and replace the existing Lee County Animal Control ordinance and adopt a fees and fines schedule for enforcement. One issue within that ordinance deals with the mandatory sterilization of cats at the expense of the owner after an unsterilized cat has been impounded for a second time.
Parks and Recreation Director Dave Harner is the acting director of animal services. According to County records, unsterilized community cats contribute roughly 80 percent of the kittens born each year and are the most significant source of cat overpopulation. County officials are working with Alley Cat Allies organization on TNR advocacy and are not planning on stopping that practice, even though there has been concern that the program has been removed from the ordinance.
“A lot of people seem to be misinformed that the TNR program has been removed from our ordinance. But, the program is not going away or changing in any way other than it will probably be enhance in the future,” added County Communications Director Betsy Clayton. “It’s just being taken out of the ordinance language so it gives us more flexibility to help it work with community needs.”
Knobloch’s experience with helping cats began eight years ago when she was a board member of the Lovers Key Beach Club on Black Island, just off the south end of Estero Island.
“We had probably over 50 cats and kittens running around that island,” she said. “I took it upon myself to do something. I called around and contacted a lady in Cape Coral who gave me traps, took the cats and would try to find homes for them.”
The number of stray cats on that small island eventually diminished.
In April 2009, the TNR program was instituted at Lee County Domestic Animal Services. According to County personnel, the goal is to stop the behaviors and stresses associated with mating such as pregnancy, yowling and fighting. Another goal of the program is to help reduce the number of cats being euthanized.
Knobloch became one of its first volunteers. The program requires participants trapping felines, using LCDAS traps and transporting the cats to and from LCDAS for surgery and vaccinations. It also requires a cat’s left ear be tipped (the universal sign the TNR program and performed by a LCDAS veterinarian).
“That’s when I noticed the problem that we had on the island. People started calling me. A lot of these people didn’t have the transportation and needed help,” she said. “The cats have to be taken in at 8 a.m., picked up by 3:30 p.m. and kept overnight before release. That means I’d have to take them back to my house and keep them overnight somewhere because of the anesthesia.”
While the program is essentially free, Knobloch says she has taken a lot of money from her own pockets to help in the cat overpopulation issue. Costs associated include gas money to drive off island to LCDAS at 5600 Banner Dr. in Fort Myers, extra veterinarian costs for other services and feeding the cats once they are released back into their own domain. Food donations have helped.
While anyone can go into LCDAS and ask for a trap or traps (a credit card will be held to ensure of the traps return), both Knobloch and Stockton believe a more structure situation would be a better option. Having a committee work on seeking grant options, exploring island locations where the problem really needs addressing, possibly handing out traps and designating areas for people to trap cats and helping with the transport of the animals could tackle the problem before it gets worse.
Knobloch would like to head up any committee or coalition that might form.
“I would like to delegate people to every neighborhood on the Beach,” she said. “If we get to that point, that would be a great. I think then we could get the Beach totally under control by getting all the cats fixed.”
In February 2014, the city of Bonita Springs and Lee County entered an interlocal agreement entitled “Feral Cat Services.” The agreement with LCDAS states the City will offer no-cost spay/neuter services through Old 41 Vet Clinic (28380 Old 41 Road, Suite #8) in Bonita Springs. Residents are required to provide proof of residency in order to receive the services. The agreement has language that says costs are not to exceed $25,000 annually.
“You want to make sure you are looking for the health and welfare of the animal and, at the same time, the quality of life of your community. It’s really a balancing act to make sure that you have some type of program that is in there that’s effective overall in your community in general,” said Harner. “There can be a big, reciprocal partnership in the program.”
Harner said Lee County Animal Services would be “more than happy” to work with other communities, like the Beach, in implementing a similar program. County staff is limited and working two shifts, seven days a week.
“It takes a lot of volunteers,” he said. “It’s very difficult for us to spend a lot of time trapping animals. We will help communities trap them, but we need their help in bringing the animals in to us and we can bring them back out if they want to oversee a cat colony.”
According to Town budget numbers, $79,144 was paid for animal control in 2012-2013, but only $18,007 was approved at an annual fee in an Interlocal Agreement for Stray Animal Control Services in 2014-2015.
In early 2013, Vice Mayor Dan Andre, the point man on animal control issue at the time, stated unincorporated Lee County accounted for 60.26 percent of animal control calls and 46.9 percent of the total bill. Discrepancies centered with smaller communities, such as the Beach, who only received half of a percent of the services or calls yet paid 3.3 percent of the $2 million budget.
Methodology was questioned on how the Beach paid for what it received. In 2012, 86 calls were made/answered regarding animal control. In 2014, from Jan. 1 to Dec. 1, there were 59 active responses.
“We believe that this methodology is not equitable in the amount of the cost allocated to the Town and other municipalities in relation to what is allocated to the unincorporated areas,” Andre said at the time.
Harner explained that the agreement is the same but, after all municipalities met with county officials, the money figures changed.
“Essentially, it is now based on the number of animals brought in and the intake that we have with each community,” he said. “That’s why you see a big fluctuation.”
Some Beach community members understand the dire situation of multiplying stray cats. After hearing Knobloch’s plea at the Nov. 17 meeting, Beach chair business operator Chris Shaw presented a check for $250 to the cause.
For more information, to help in the Beach volunteer TNR program or to express interest in joining a coalition, call Knobloch at 851-3485.