health dept

Hi, Our local health dept. Sent a letter to a lady who lives not far from us saying she has to stop feeding the stray cats and take there bed away or she could be fined $100.00 & spend 90 day's in jail. I take care of 3 stray's Mama, Papa and Lucky. I have had Mama spayed. Anyone else run into this situation? Take care and God bless, Marcia

No I haven't where are you at in Ohio?

Originally Posted by ozzfan8

Hi, Our local health dept. Sent a letter to a lady who lives not far from us saying she has to stop feeding the stray cats and take there bed away or she could be fined $100.00 & spend 90 day's in jail. I take care of 3 stray's Mama, Papa and Lucky. I have had Mama spayed. Anyone else run into this situation?

Take care and God bless, Marcia

Click to expand...

Marcia....sounds like you should contact local feral/stray cat advocates in Ohio. This is the list I found in Ohio:

http://www.alleycat.org/orgs.html#oh

Katie

Lots of people have faced this situation and most have been able to fight it successfully. Katie's suggestion is excellent. If you cannot get the help you need locally then try contacting Alley Cat Allies directly. They have a small staff and work with cases all over the country so they aren't guaranteed to be able to help with every case but they have gone to bat for caregivers in many, many cases just like this.

However, first and foremost the caregiver must have all of the cats sterilized and vaccinated. If she does not then she doesn't have a leg to stand on. Feeding stray cats who are not spayed/neutered and vaccinated actually does pose a potential risk to public health and safety not to mention pretty much inevitably creating a public nuisance. But if the cats are s/n and vaccinated, then the caregiver is promoting public health and safety. She's doing what should have been the Department of Health's job in the first place!

Here are some must-read resources:

http://www.alleycat.org/resources_care.html#1
http://www.alleycat.org/resources_care.html#6
http://www.alleycat.org/resources_care.html#12

It's a ton of material to read but there is a lot of important information and the more knowledgeable a caregiver is, the better!

I live in Canton

Thank you I will check these out.

I'llcheck these out too. Thanks everyone!!