Does Bandera County have a feral cat problem?

By Judith Pannebaker

Committee looks at stray animal problems & solutions

Cats – feral and domesticated – were discussed at length recently.

De facto Chairman Precinct 2 Commissioner Bobby Harris convened a meeting of a committee asked to review county animal issues. Specifically, Bandera County Commissioners had previously asked the committee to review the Bandera County rabies and animal control order.

On Friday, Nov. 21, Harris, along with Conrad Nightingale, DVM, county rabies control officer; County Auditor Christina Moeller; Sandee Bowman of Animal Welfare Society; Senior Animal Control Officer Deputy Rick Neely; Roger Sullivan, representing the Cowboy Capital Pet Assistance League; and County Attorney Kerry Schneider, hashed out possible changes and additions to the order. Precinct 4 Commissioner Doug King also attended the meeting.

One bone of contention concerned the purported proliferation of feral cats throughout the county – and what to do about them.
Bowman took exception to a passage under Section 5.5, Elimination of Stray Animals, that stated: “Feral cats, dogs or other animals may be kept zero (0) to seventy-two (72) hours at the discretion of the animal control officer before (being) humanely destroyed. A record shall be made about feral animals humanely destroyed.”

It was decided that all cats – with or without identifying tags – would be held for five business days. After that time, they may be offered to animal rescue organizations for adoption. During the discussion, Schneider refuted an erroneous charge that no provisions had been made to accommodate impounded cats at the new animal control facility.

Bowman also took umbrage at a definition that stated: “A cat may be presumed feral if it does not have a collar and license tag.” Preferring the term “free-roaming” to feral, she contended that many free-roaming cats were actually domesticated and even those found without collars or tags were not necessarily feral.

Nightingale, however, supported the definition, contending that any at-large cat without collar or tags should be considered feral.

To underscore Bowman’s point, Harris launched into an anecdotal story about a “so-called” feral cat that had hung around his Lakehills restaurant. “Nobody could get close to him,” he recalled. “But after about two months, I was sitting in a chair one evening. That cat decided he wasn’t feral anymore, but domesticated, and he crawled up in my lap. Now, he greets the customers at the restaurant.

After listening to the story, Nightingale asked Harris, “Did you have the cat vaccinated?

Harris hadn’t. The admission prompted Nightingale to add, “Unless you take ownership and responsibility, he’s a feral cat.”
Additionally, both Harris and Bowman maintained that Bandera County has no pressing feral cat problem. “The data doesn’t support we have lots of cats,” Harris said.

Schneider disagreed, saying, “We have a lot of feral cats in the county. One landowner picked up feral cats for an entire year. A feral animal on a property is a potential rabies problem.” Schneider added that landowners wanted the cats picked up for health and safety reasons.

Moeller also concurred she had had problems in the past with feral cats.

“People have to take some personal responsibility. They should trap the cats themselves and take them to the vets and have them euthanized,” Bowman said.

Nightingale said, “I would rather have an experienced person handle wild animals. Allowing an inexperienced person to do it is a mistake. I’m against having untrained people try to capture and take care of feral cats. That’s how people get injured.”

Bowman also made a pitch to incorporate a “trap-neuter-release” (TNR) program in the animal control order to limit colonies of feral cats.

However, Schneider said the animal control officer could not participate in a TNR program due to the terms of the rabies control order.

Bowman countered that other organizations with trained people would assist private landowners with the TNR program.

“The problem is landowners don’t want the cats released back on their property and that’s what the organizations would do,” Schneider explained.

To another query, Bowman admitted that the administration of rabies vaccinations is not a part of the TNR program. She said, “The life span of a feral cat is only four to eight years. They get run over by cars or attacked by other animals.”

“Or they starve,” noted another committee member, “that sounds like a great life.”

Bowman also suggested that animal control officers refrain from arbitrarily picking up stray dogs on the sides of roads.

“Most of (the dogs) are probably just trying to get back home,” she said. “Animal control in Bexar County has put a moratorium on taking in stray dogs unless they’re sick, injured or aggressive.”

Schneider said under the Bandera County statute, all stray dogs must be impounded. “Not to do so would leave the county potentially liable,” she said.