SALEM — Several Salem residents are requesting support from the city council in addressing the city’s feral cat population.

“Cat overpopulation has been a problem in Salem for as long as I’ve lived here. It’s not so much a cat problem as it is a community and people problem that negatively impacts the majority of city neighborhoods, and the problem is the worst in downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods,” said Salem resident Brenda Austin.

In the city council’s June 10 meeting Austin requested the city support a formal trap-neuter-return (TNR) program to address the city’s feral cat population, which she said was reaching a saturation point that could no longer be addressed by the ongoing efforts of a few residents. She said that approximately 70% of the cats sent to Angels for Animals come from Salem, and that feral cats breed extremely quickly and are far more likely to spread disease to both pets and humans.

“They’ve been doing what they can individually to TNR cats in the area, but it’s become overwhelming for them, especially financially, as most of the residents that contributing to the problem aren’t willing to do anything more than providing food for the cats and sometimes water. Meanwhile, the cats continue to breed, fight, and spread disease as unmodified cats are most likely to spread diseases like feline leukemia, feline immunodeficiency virus, feline distemper, and upper respiratory infections,” said Austin. “The suffering of sick and neglected cats is heart wrenching for most who must witness it, and it’s cost these women hundreds and even thousands of dollars to do this work and fix cats they don’t even own. They can’t afford to continue at this pace, and they need help.”

Austin said that she had spoken with representatives of both Angels for Animals and the Columbiana County Humane Society, and both were willing to loan out traps for an organized TNR program in the short-term. She also said that a Salem cat fund had been established with Angels for Animals several years ago to which donors can make direct contributions, and the group of residents who have been doing the work wanted to submit ideas for funding for the program.

“We aren’t expecting you guys to fix the problem, but we do need help. The fund has not been promoted widely in recent years, but we do plan to work on kickstarting it again and would appreciate the city’s consideration in promoting it and supporting the work of this TNR group,” said Austin. “We are asking the city council to support this project, possibly assign a liaison or contact who can work with us on insuring we’re interpreting Salem’s current animal ordinances correctly and possibly amending them in the future in the best interest of these homeless cats and their caretakers and the community in general.”

Austin said that she would be “happy to draft a more formal proposal” for potential legislative solutions, and Council President Sara Baronzzi asked her to follow up with Councilman Jeff Stockman, who chairs the rules and ordinances committee, so that the matter could be discussed in the committee’s upcoming meeting at 6 p.m. on June 24.

The city council was also addressed by resident Amanda Byer regarding cat issues.

“When I moved to Salem and bought a home a year ago, I did not know that my neighbor was a cat hoarder, and it’s not just a hoarding problem, it’s a neglect and abuse case. Last year she had over 35 cats and I’ve also had the police come over to remove dead cats from the homing shelters on her patio,” said Byers.

Byers said that she and other adjacent property owners’ homes were being damaged by these cats, and that they were transmitting illnesses to pets, noting that she had to pay over $600 in vet bills last year as a result. She also said that when some of these hoarded cats – 14 kittens and eight adults – were surrendered to Angels for animals they were so severely ill they needed to be euthanized.

“We’re trying to protect our properties. I have elderly neighbors who didn’t want their names spoken tonight and asked me to be their proxy. They had a survey done for fencing, but the policy established earlier this year to have neighbors sign off to allow them to have the fence. The people that [are] hoarding the cats won’t allow it,” said Byers. “Since they can’t put a fence up to protect their property, they’re asking for that policy to be waived so they can get their fence up. Their land has been surveyed, they paid money, they’re just waiting to see what they can do because the neighbor said they didn’t want a fence near their property, [they are] just going to let [the] cats keep running on there.”

Councilman Evan Newman said that the neighbors only need to sign an agreement if the fence will be built on the property line, and that no agreement is required if it is set back three feet to leave room for maintenance. However, Byers argued that doing so would be ceding three feet of their property to the neighbor.

“I explained that to them and they do not feel its right to give up three feet of their property. They’re elderly, they’re not going to be going out and around the fence to try to mow, they don’t want to give up three feet of their property to the neighbor that has the cats. It doesn’t seem fair that we have to give up and that makes our yard even smaller when it’s no fault of our own,” said Byers.

The city council will meet next at 7 p.m. on July 1.