LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors approved temporary changes to county policy in order to help facilitate the rehoming of several dozen cats and dogs found in the Valley fire area that have not yet been reclaimed by their owners.

Animal Care and Control Director Bill Davidson went to the board to ask for approval of waiving all remaining fees for dog and cat adoption, with the exception of spay and neuter fees, in order to help get the animals new homes.

He explained that all of the animals are being held until Wednesday for owner redemption. “Many of the animals that we still have, have actually been held for six to seven weeks.”

As of Thursday, the animals – which on Tuesday included 10 dogs, 27 cats, two chickens, three horses and eight goats – will be made available for adoption to the general public, Davidson said.

More than half of the cats that are at the shelter are not socialized, and are what Davidson called “community cats.”

As such, Davidson said he wanted to spay or neuter them and vaccinate them without charge, and then offer them for free to anyone willing to give them homes, as is the practice in his community cat program.

Supervisor Rob Brown asked about issues with people having trouble finding their animals. Davidson said he is aware people are looking for their pets, and that some may not find them.

He said he suspects there are at least two or three dozen animals in the community being held and cared for by good Samaritans. He's been contacted by about half a dozen such people who don't want to bring the animals to Animal Care and Control, and he's encouraged them to use the county's lost and found Web site, the Valley fire pets Web site or to post fliers.

Davidson said his staff have placed pictures of animals in care at out-of-county facilities in the Animal Care and Control lobby at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport and on the agency's Facebook page.

Regarding some people's reluctance to bring in Valley fire animals they have rescued, Supervisor Jim Steele said, “I have an idea that's because they believe you have a euthanasia policy in effect.”

“There's been several discussions about the euthanasia, and one thing that we've been adamant about
from the beginning is that any fire victim is not really in jeopardy of euthanasia. We're going to do absolutely everything we positively can to make sure those animals get rehomed,” Davidson replied.

Davidson said surrounding counties and other agencies have offered help in making sure the animals get new homes, and the SPCA of Clear Lake also is offering assistance. “So I don't believe that's an issue.”

Steele wanted a policy to be adopted in which a person who brought in an animal from the fire area would be notified if the animal isn't adopted, even if they didn't originally intend to keep or adopt the animal themselves.

Davidson initially was concerned about the ability of his staff to do that for all animals. Brown simplified the request, asking Davidson if he could just put a notation on any Valley fire animal's file to do as Steele suggested.

Davidson said he believed the vast majority of the animals waiting at the shelter will be adopted by the end of the week. Brown said he didn't think such notations would require a lot of work, and Davidson agreed to do it for the Valley fire animals specifically.

The board then went on to consider several suggestions put forward by the County Administrative Office after speaking with two citizens.

Deputy County Administrative Officer Josh Jones' report to the board asked for direction on the following policies:

– Redefining “strays” as many fire survivor cats may not have collars or microchips.
– Temporarily offering free microchips for fire survivor cats.
– Temporarily suspending the ban on feeding community cats.
– Protocol for sheltering non-social cats.
– Temporarily suspending euthanasia for identified fire survivor cats.
– Reprocessing fire survivor cats that were not previously identified as such.
– Reduce or waive adoption and drop-off fees for fire survivor cats.

Upper Lake resident Haji Warf spoke to the board about her request to temporarily suspend the ban on feeding community cats.

She and about a dozen volunteers have been helping owners find their cats. They have been focusing on the hardest-hit portions of Cobb, including the Gifford Springs and Summit Pool areas, and putting out traps at the request of owners, resulting in a lot of reunifications, Warf said.

Warf said her process has been to take the animals to Wasson Memorial Veterinary Clinic or Lake County Animal Care and Control, explaining, “I strongly believe they should be consolidated in one place,” to facilitate them getting homes.

Warf said they recently began finding more wildlife in the traps and fewer cats. “We suspended trapping last week and replaced it with feeding in the event that the cats are still there, because there's some evidence that they're still there.”

While some new cats are still showing up, they're too savvy to go into the traps, so Warf said food is being left for them instead.

Warf asked for a yearlong suspension of the ban on feeding community cats, or at the least that the ban be suspended until next spring when there are other food sources. She said she wanted to establish temporary feeding stations to get the cats through the winter.

Steele, a wildlife biologist, cautioned that Warf is raising feral cats which are not good for wildlife, particularly the birds in spring.

“These are not feral cats,” Warf replied.

Steele said the cats will become feral eventually. While he said he understood the need for the proposal in an emergency, “It cannot be for a very long length of time. It just can't be, because you're establishing something that isn't going to work well.”

Warf noted of the time length, “I have to shoot for the moon. I know you're not going to give it to me.”

Steele also asked if there had been any discussion regarding the community cat program with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Davidson said there hasn't been, and Steele asked that he pursue a consultation with the state.

Davidson said the “old, archaic” ordinance relating to not feeding stray cats is only used selectively when needed. He added that he believes the remaining cats in the Cobb area will dissipate and move to areas where there are people and food.

He said he had no problem with Warf's request to feed the cats through the spring.

Regarding the remaining proposed policies on Jones' list, Davidson said he had nothing to do with the recommendations, but he and the board quickly went over and agreed on all of them.

Mary Jane Montana, executive director of the SPCA of Clear Lake, told the board her organization was willing to help keep fire animals for an additional amount of time to work toward rehoming them if they are not reclaimed. “We have some vacancies right now and we can do that.”

The board voted 3-0 – with Supervisor Anthony Farrington and Supervisor Jeff Smith absent – to approve the proposed policies.

In other animal-related news on Tuesday, the board presented a proclamation honoring Davidson and his Animal Care and Control staff, along with the Lake Evacuation and Animal Protection – or LEAP – group of volunteers for their animal rescue efforts during the Rocky, Jerusalem and Valley fires.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.