The feral and stray cat issue in Jefferson has seen some recent developments. 

The topic first came to light in April of 2018 after the City suspended its service of offering live traps to residents to remove live animals from their property. At that time Mayor Craig Berry said any policy changes with regards to feral cats would take about 18-months to complete. 

Some discussions have taken place since then, but last week’s City Council meeting took a major step forward. The topic of Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) came up again with representatives from People for Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) of Greene County and Linn Price with Animal Protection and Education (APE) Charity. The TNR program traps a feral or a stray cat, neuters them and releases them back into the environment with the goal of eliminating the cat population over time. City Administrator Mike Palmer says a comment was made at the meeting that the TNR program holds people accountable. He explains what the City needs to keep in mind.

“Where on the City side, we certainly have to look at the protection of property owners. These cats are a nuisance on a property, we don’t want to get in a situation because they have special status that they are just released back and they go back to being a nuisance to us.”   

Following the discussion, a committee with PAWS, APE, City staff, law enforcement and Council members Matt Gordon and Darren Jackson recently met. Jackson says they talked about some possible solutions for the cat problem and they also discussed the positives and negatives of TNR. He points out that a solution won’t satisfy everyone, but they will try to find the best solution they can. Jackson adds the committee believes TNR is not the only solution, but it could be part of a bigger plan to humanely reduce nuisance cats. PAWS President Marilyn Lane thought the first meeting went well. She says they learned a lot from the representatives with Boone County Humane Society about the TNR program and a farm home cat adoption program.