Cat Haters at City Hall

I thought DallasArena.com readers might be interested in some current goings-on between the city's Animal Control management and some local cat rescuers. I'll try to be concise, but it's complicated.

For the last three years, a cat rescue volunteer named Barbara Ridgeway has been trapping and moving stray/feral cats from an apartment complex called Northwest Terrace. The apartments are pier and beam, and the cats live under the buildings. So far, she has relocated over 50 spayed/neutered cats to safer areas. In addition to heavy traffic (the apartments are at the intersection of Northwest Highway and Plano Road), some residents are cruel to stray cats.

Last Wednesday (Feb 22), Barbara arrived at the apartments to feed and trap the remaining 10-15 ferals when she realized that all "escape routes" under the pier and beam buildings had been filled in. This effectively trapped the cats under the buildings. When she asked the management why the dirt had been put down, the apt manager Bill Burke said the City Code people told him to do it.

Next, Barbara called Animal Control to ask if she could open up one "escape route" so the cats would not die under the buildings. Eventually, an inspector named Vincent Medley said he would meet her at 3:00 pm at the property on Friday. Barbara asked me to accompany her, so I did.

Vincent showed up half an hour late, then promptly announced he was there on his day off. (I suppose we should have apologized to him for his sacrifice, but Barbara was there "off the clock".) Next, he promptly accused Barbara of being unable to prove there were any cats under the buildings. Obviously, if anyone knows the cats' whereabouts, it's Barbara.

Next, the apt manager Bill Burke was asked to join the conversation. He said that he did not mind Barbara feeding and trapping the cats, and he had only had the dirt put down as he had been fined several grand by the City of Dallas for some mysterious building code violation.

Eventually, the three of us (Vincent, Barbara, me) went to look at the buildings where the cats were trapped. During this time, two residents told Vincent there were cats under the buildings, supporting Barbara's claim.

Also, the building "improvements" had me thoroughly confused. The dirt did nothing to improve the safety or integrity of the buildings. Pier and beam buildings need landscaping that allows water to drain away, but the city did NOT order the apt. manager to fill in several puddles of standing water directly next to the building. Some puddles were 3-4 inches deep. Later, I searched the City Code online for hours, but could find no reason for an apt. manager to be ordered to pile some dirt around some buildings.

Anyway, back to our Friday afternoon. Vincent proceeded to chat on his cell phone for about an hour while Barbara and I waited. Then, he told Barbara that his boss Kent Robertson had "said he would help her".

Barbara asked if she could open up an escape route for the cats. Vincent said, No. Barbara pointed out that if the cats had not already died, they would certainly be dead by Monday, and how was that humane? She got the standard "I'm only following orders" from Vincent.

During the weekend, other cat rescuers visited the complex and found that tenants had removed a couple of the vent covers from the buildings in question, so the cats could escape. In the meantime, Barbara waited for Animal Control to contact her so she could finish trapping/moving the cats. This was, unfortunately, naive.

Monday, Barbara was informed that if she returned to the property to trap cats, she would be arrested. She called the apt. manager, only to be told that he would not be the one accusing her of trespassing and having her arrested - it would be the head of Animal Control, Kent Robertson. Barbara called Kent, only to be told that Animal Control would trap and euthanize the remaining cats "so they would not suffer" and that she would indeed be arrested if she returned to the apts.

Barbara called the apt manager Bill Burke, who said he was also threatened with arrest by "the city" if he allowed Barbara on the premises, as she would be interfering with Animal Control.

So what have we got here? I think we have some City of Dallas officials who want to throw their weight around and are clueless about the benefits of feral cat management. (The Web site www.alleycat.org has plenty of information about the benefits.) Also, their male egos are all out of joint because a woman called their bluff, and they don't mind killing some cats as a retaliatory move.

Our friends at Animal Control don't know a thing about feral cat management, and how it could permanently reduce our stray/feral cat population. Instead, they would rather continue to euthanize enough cats and dogs to fill up Reunion Arena every year.

I photographed the building "improvements", so I can show them to the engineer who inspected my pier and beam house before I bought it. Hopefully, he can solve the mystery.

We are trying to get some investigative reporters and lawyers involved, but in the meantime, some animals may die because of some over-inflated egos.

Let's all keep our fingers crossed for the cats' safety. In the meantime, let's suggest a slogan for our wonderful City employees: "Here, no good deed goes unpunished."

Melina Flaherty