They may be cute and fuzzy. But if you give them food and water,
they multiply and create havoc.
Stop panicking. Gremlins aren’t taking over San Benito County.
It’s the time of year when the local cat population mushrooms,
especially that of the stray variety.
Hollister – They may be cute and fuzzy. But if you give them food and water, they multiply and create havoc.
Stop panicking. Gremlins aren’t taking over San Benito County. It’s the time of year when the local cat population mushrooms, especially that of the stray variety.
Recently, the animal shelter has been overwhelmed with stray, or feral, cats. The shelter has taken in 50 to 60 feral cats in the past week alone, another reason shelter supervisor Julie Carrero said people should take precautions – such as having pets spayed or neutered – to prevent drastic increases to the local population.
The shelter also rents cat traps for $2 a day and offers coupons for a free spaying or neutering in February.
Each year from April to October cats give birth – sometimes as many as two or three litters of kittens a year for each female. That causes the spike in the local population, Carrero said.
For many years after a peak population in 1990, the number of cats had steadily decreased. But in the past couple of years it’s been on the rise again, she said. At one property in county limits, the shelter recently retrieved 30 to 40 cats. Even in Hollister, animal control has discovered as many cats at a single house, she said.
Feral cats, though, are harder to deal with than tamed ones – both at the shelter and when people try to corral them, she said. People should take precaution when picking up what they suspect to be feral cats, Carrero said, adding there’s a simple way to tell which are strays and which are tamed.
“Feral cats will eat you alive, and tamed cats want to be pet,” Carrero said.
When the shelter receives cats, the staff tests each one to determine whether they’re feral or tamed.
The workers put out a prosthetic hand – which a local doctor donated to the shelter. If the cat attacks the fake hand, the animal is probably a stray.
“That way we don’t get our hands scratched,” Carrero said. “If they bite the hand repeatedly we know they don’t want to be pet.”
San Benito County’s population jump, however, is no worse than most others, she said. It’s a problem shelters throughout the state have to deal with.
Police Chief Jeff Miller, whose department oversees animal control, said some communities have the problem worse than others. He went before the city council a few months back and got permission to hire temporary staffers to help offset the increased workload.
Both Hollister and San Benito County have ordinances restricting the number of cats each home can own. In Hollister the limit is three. In county limits it’s 10, Carrero said.
She also emphasized when feral cats give birth, it’s important to notify animal control. Because those kittens could be having there own kittens within six months, she said.
By state law the shelter must hold the cats for three days before putting them to sleep. People don’t bring feral cats home to their families. But ranchers and farmers sometimes do request them to use as “barn cats.”
For more information call the animal shelter 636-4320.
Kollin Kosmicki is a Free Lance staff writer. E-mail him at [email protected] or call (831) 637-5566, ext. 331.
