(Okoboji)– An ongoing and increasing problem with stray cats in the Iowa Great Lakes was a major topic of discussion at Tuesday’s Okoboji City Council meeting. Representatives of a group called Lakes Community Animal Welfare say their volunteers and local animal shelters who have been spaying, neutering and caring for feral cats are overwhelmed, out of money, and simply can’t take any more…
“We cannot simply rely on the goodwill of a few to solve a problem that affects the entire community. While the local Humane Society is doing what they can, it’s also important to recognize the problem is larger than one organization can handle on their own. There’s enough here for about six Humane Societies. We’re here to encourage the city of Okoboji to take action and address the feral cat problem. A communitywide spay and neuter program with vaccines is the responsible choice and it’s within your power to make it happen.”
They add it’s important a collective approach be taken involving the county and municipalities and that an animal control officer be hired…
“That’s what we’re trying to do collectively is to figure out the answer. Can we as communities and towns come together and get the county of Dickinson together for a Dickinson county animal control? Everybody together. Nobody is stuck paying this bill or that bill and paying this much and this little town pays less. It’s a designated number. You call the Comm Center. The proper police, or the proper person that’s on call is dispatched. The animal is taken care of, there’s a contract with the shelter or the vet clinic. There has to be a way we can work this out between everybody involved. There has to be ideas between all of your brains and every other council’s brains, to come up with a solution.”
There was also a call for stricter ordinances…
“So these codes and ordinances should be covering all of the cats and people that are recklessly abandoning them and breeding and doing all of these wrong, should be held accountable. I shouldn’t have to pay for their mistakes. When it’s clear cut we wouldn’t have half the problem that we do. So that’s another point of having an animal control officer to follow these regulations and make sure the citizens are following them as well.”
A specific dollar amount as to what they would like the cities donate toward the cause wasn’t mentioned. The council referred the matter to the city’s finance committee for further review. In the meantime, city officials called on the organization to work closely with related groups, including the Humane Society of Northwest Iowa.
