Rochester City Council debates ordinance to ban feeding stray cats

ROCHESTER — The city of Rochester may soon have another tool when it comes to managing the city’s feral cat population.

With a 4-2 vote, the Rochester City Council recently moved a new ordinance amendment regarding the feeding of stray cats and dogs for first reading and introduction.

Four councilmembers — Christian Hauser, Marilyn Trent, Debbie Jones, and Mayor Nancy Salvia — voted in favor of moving the new ordinance forward.

“The goal is to treat and capture these cats and deal with this issue humanely and responsibly, and this ordinance helps us get there,” Hauser said.

Subsection A of the amendment prohibits the ground feeding of wild animals — including, but not limited to, raccoons, skunks, rodents, rabbits, crows, wild birds, rats, mice, fowl, waterfowl, gophers, groundhogs, moles, opossums, squirrels, chipmunks, and any and all other types of wild animals and reptiles.

But there is a provision that allows the feeding of wild birds, only from elevated bird feeders.

Subsection B prohibits any feeding of feral or stray cats or dogs, but states that the city’s ordinance officers may review and approve feeding and watering on a case-by-case basis, if it’s part of city-approved animal control efforts.

Salvia said she has a soft spot on the topic, adding that she owns a kitty that was rescued in Oakland Township.

“One of the things I like about what’s in this ordinance is that the code officer can review and approve feeding and watering locations,” she said. “That was important to me, that there was some way to have that happen.”

Although councilwoman Sara King was absent from the meeting, she said in an emailed statement she was also in support of the amendment.

“Together, with responsible feeding and targeted intervention, we can create a healthier and more sustainable environment for both our residents and our community animals,” she said in the statement.

Mayor Pro Tem Stuart Bikson and councilman Steve Sage voted against the amendment, adding they feel the city’s Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate and Return program has been a success in controlling the feral cats.

“I do not feel we need to create a problem through this ordinance. Let’s let neighbors be neighbors and figure this out — and we know TNVR works, so I would say give that a try,” Sage said.

“We have this plan that seems to be working, and now we have this ordinance, and it just seems unnecessary to me at the time,” added Bikson.

Council will consider adopting the ordinance during an upcoming meeting.

Stray cats, according to city officials, have been known to roam certain neighborhood streets, making noise all hours of the night in the alleys. And their population seems to have been growing over the past few years.

Trent said addressing the city’s feral cat community is a tricky issue, with many people on differing sides of the fence.

“We have different points of view,” she said. “Some people go ‘oh, isn’t that a cute little kitty,’ and then a cat, maybe others are like, ‘Ugh, get this out of here’ — and that is how a community learns to live with each other, to understand those points of view.”

As part of the city’s efforts to manage its feral cat community, officials formed a Community Cat Committee last fall — which has met over the past several months to decide how to best stop the feral cats from multiplying. The committee has partnered with leaders of a few nonprofit rescue organizations and spay and neuter clinics — including Cristen Alimario of Tigerlily Cat Rescue, Tara Tomcsik-Husak of the Feline Fund, and Cheryl Lynn Phillips of the GG’s Foundation — to tackle the issue, electing to proceed with a TNV program, beginning on Griggs Street.

Trent, who serves on the cat committee with fellow councilmembers Hauser and King, among others, said the program has been successful thus far.

All of the cats around Griggs Street have been spayed and marked by a small clip in their ear.

“What has happened, which is beyond my expectations on Griggs Street, was that there were eight adult cats — seven females and one male — that have been trapped, neutered, (vaccinated) and returned, and seven kittens have been adopted to loving homes through the Tigerlily Cat Rescue,” Trent said.

Now that the weather is warming up, Rochester City Manager Nik Banda said the city has once again begun receiving complaints about the feral cat population and plans to target colonies in the Taylor and Castill areas this spring.

Rochester community members on other streets who feel there is a cat issue in their neighborhoods are invited to reach out to the city by calling the Rochester Fire Department at (248) 651-4470.