But in giving Animal Care and Control the approval, the board asked the agency to keep statistics on feral cat issues, and made it clear they still wanted animals picked up when possible.
Animal Care and Control Director Denise Johnson and Deputy Director Bill Davidson took the proposal to the board.
Johnson and Davidson cited budget cuts and the number of cats now overwhelming the shelter as the reasons for the proposal to drop pickup services of cats around the county.
Johnson said budget cuts will require that animal control officers now assist with kennel cleanup in the mornings. She said it takes six people to clean the kennel facility.
Animal control officers spend 45-percent of their time driving from place to place to pick up cats. Johnson said having officers pick up the animals doesn't serve the community because it means they don't have a part in resolving the problem.
Johnson wanted to establish a $30 pickup fee for animals. She pointed out that in neighboring counties they don't up stray cats for any reason, and Colusa County charges people who drop off the animals.
Board Chair Denise Rushing said she recently encountered a situation where a vacant home in Clearlake Oaks had numerous cats, and wondered how such situations would be handled. Johnson said that would be an abandonment issue, and Animal Care and Control would continue picking up animals in those cases.
Supervisor Rob Brown said people aren't going to call to have someone pick up their cat, it's going to be animals that belong to someone else or have been dumped.
“We're very supportive of animal control and all the things that you do,” he said. “We can't just not pick up stray cats.”
He referred to the justification for the county's mandatory spay-neuter rules, which had pointed to tens of thousands of cats being produced by one unaltered cat. “No other point needs to be made.”
Brown said 95 percent of the feral cats that end up in the shelter won't make good pets, and need to be dealt with humanely.
Johnson said the agency had to cut something somewhere.
“I still think that's our responsibility to pick them up,” said Brown, who noted he wasn't OK with charging a fee for taking the animals. He surmised the county would create problems with the policy, and said they don't even charge that much at the landfill yet people dump garbage elsewhere.
Johnson said if officers have to spent 45 percent of their time in the kennel and 45 percent driving around, they're going to run into overtime.
She said she was trying to find places to trim her operating expenses. “Honestly, this is the only spot where it's not going to affect citizens' welfare.”
Brown suggested a volunteer program to get extra help. Johnson said they'd tried that.
Brown said he wanted to discuss the county's budget before approving any policy change.
Supervisor Jim Comstock said more cat bite problems will result if the animals aren't picked up. Johnson said Animal Care and Control will continue to take cats if they're brought in.
“They're not going to bring them in. It's not going to happen,” said Comstock, noting that if he has a problem with cats on his ranch, he takes care of it himself.
He said the county could end up being overrun by cats. “And evolution will turn them into panther-sized calicos,” quipped Rushing.
Panthers and coyotes will benefit, said Comstock. Brown agreed, saying the animals will come closer to town. That, continued Comstock, could create a public safety issue.
Johnson said in one two-day period recently 30 cats were brought into the shelter. During the spring and summer months, the shelter is inundated due to kitten and puppy season.
“It's worse this year than it's been in a long time,” she said.
County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox said the issue “isn't because of the budget, this is because of their workload.”
He said $82,000 for salaries has been budgeted for this year, with overtime cut down from $21,000 to $16,000. “They need additional funds to handle this.'
Rushing was concerned that the situation was going to “spiral out of control.”
Davidson said the state requires feral cats be held for six days, which Brown said should be changed.
Supervisor Anthony Farrington pointed to a state proposal to roll back the holding period from six days to three. He also wanted to look at the proposal and the department's entire operations as part of a larger budget discussion.
Clearlake resident and council member Chuck Leonard told the board during public comment that he's taken 30 feral cats he's trapped to Animal Care and Control over the years, and would never consider asking an officer to come and get them. “I think there should be a fee,” Leonard said.
Lucerne resident Lenny Matthews asked Brown and Comstock about how they deal with stray cats.
“Whatever method is effective,” said Brown.
When she continued pressing them, Brown said it's legal to dispose of an animal with a firearm on private property. Matthews said she planned to check into that.
She added that she thought it was “ludicrous” that the shelter didn't have enough inmate trustees from the jail. Johnson said the sheriff allocates them four inmates, but there aren't enough to go around for all of the departments.
As the board pondered a decision, Cox said, “I really don't think you should be making those types of policy decisions during budget hearings.”
Rushing agreed that it was a policy discussion that should be a timed agenda item because she expected many people would be interested in attending the board meeting to discuss it.
Johnson said in areas of the county where feral cats aren't trapped, disease comes through every few years and wipes them out. The animals that are brought in to the shelter at those times bring disease which then wipes out the shelter population.
“We're a really rural county, I don't think it's going to get as out of hand as you think,” Johnson said of the cat population.
She said right now people don't have money and are cutting back on animals, and in some cases are just turning the animals loose rather than bringing them to the shelter.
Rushing suggested going ahead with the proposed policy change and looking at it again during the summer budgeting process.
Cox made the same suggestion so the board would know by the budget hearings if they'll need to add money to Animal Care and Control's budget.
Brown asked if it was possible to have volunteers pick up cats. Johnson said they didn't have enough volunteers to do so.
“Lenny would do it. She's available,” Brown replied.
Davidson suggested they could create two full-time positions, paid less then animal control officers, for the purposes of cat pickup. Rushing suggested creating a volunteer position that received training and could, eventually, be worked into a paying position.
Brown moved to accept the proposal, but didn't want to deter feral cats being picked up. Farrington seconded the motion, which was approved 5-0. The board asked Johnson to track cat statistics.
Davidson said Thursday that while the board accepted the proposal, they still want cats picked up, so not much is changing for Animal Care and Control.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at