‘One big litter box’: Northeast Ohio town considers law to address feral cat overpopulation
STRASBURG, Ohio (WJW) — There’s an overpopulation problem in the small village of Strasburg in Tuscarawas County.
Residents said the number of feral cats in the village has quickly grown in recent years. It started with cats that were abandoned by their owners and then began reproducing and interacting with the indoor and outdoor cats of homeowners, who felt sorry for the animals and decided to start feeding them and providing them with small shelters.
I-Team: Local driver fights speed camera ticket, wins
“I mean anybody who would just ignore a helpless animal — there’s something wrong with them,” Strasburg resident Dave Barton told FOX 8 News.
But for some residents, the feral cats and the waste they create have become an unsanitary public nuisance.
“I feel sorry for them, but I told the city council if it keeps going on, they’re going to lose this neighborhood. It’s just going to turn into one big litter box,” said Strasburg resident Barry Biechler.
Based on complaints from Biechler and others, the village council in Strasburg is now considering a new law that would prohibit residents from providing any food or shelter for feral or stray cats.
“I just want to say that I don’t hate cats. It says in the Bible ‘a righteous person cares for the needs of their animals.’ But they’re not their animals. They’re just feeding them. They’re not cats anymore, they’re rodents,” said Biechler.
Members of a local animal rights organization said, if approved, the new law would create inhumane conditions for the feral cats, and they are proposing another solution to control the population.
Volunteers from the Tuscarawas County TNR Project said they are committed to trapping, spay or neutering feral cats and then returning them to wherever they find them. TNR members and their network of veterinarians have provided what they call “compassionate care” for more than 1,100 cats.
“There’ll be no more inbreeding. There’ll be no more kittens. They’ll be healthier. Their life span is not as long as, say, an indoor cat on a couch, but in these circumstances, it’s the best life we can give them,” TNR co-founder Sarah Keplinger told FOX 8 News.
I-Team: Cleveland police officer suffers medical emergency on duty and dies
The volunteers said the only long-term solution in Strasburg is to stop the cycle of feral cats reproducing.
“There are too many cats. We all know that. The only way to resolve that is spay and neuter, which manages those community cat populations. It’s not their fault they were abandoned or thrown out,” said TNR co-founder Marilyn Graef.
The group calls the proposed law in Strasburg “an unwise and imperfect choice to solve a problem created by humans.”
“These cats will starve to death. They will freeze to death. It will be an agonizing death if they are starving in the winter,” said Keplinger.
The village council is scheduled to have a second reading of the feral cat legislation on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. and could vote on the proposed law later this month.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
