The Jefferson city crew late last week brought to Jefferson a temporary feline “apartment complex” and placed it adjacent to the current animal shelter.
The unit was donated by John McCormick of Churdan. He obtained it a few years ago after an animal rescue operation near Churdan.
It has cages for up to 30 cats. After electricity and water are hooked up, it will have heat and air conditioning and a wash sink. The unit will be thoroughly cleaned before it’s put into use.
According to Jefferson council member Dave Sloan, who is also on the committee for the new animal shelter, the structure is “not permanent, not our solution” to the current cat population issue.
Also last week, Alley Cat Allies® president Becky Robinson sent a letter to Jefferson mayor Craig Berry and JPD chief Mark Clouse, offering that organization’s help in developing a program for trap-neuter-return, vaccination, and humane education concerning cats. That organization refers to unowned, unsocialized cats as “community cats”, not feral cats.
Alley Cat Allies is a global advocacy group that has assisted communities of all sizes all across the country in implementing humane policies regarding cats. It is known as “the gold standard” of humane organizations by people who are involved in animal welfare.
An Alley Cat Allies staff attorney visited Jefferson Thursday. City and JPD officials were unable to meet with her, perhaps because of the short notice for the meeting. Notification was received Wednesday of the Thursday visit.
The city council and the JPD agreed to look at trap-neuter-return policies after a meeting April 10 with Animal Protection and Education of Paton and the Animal Rescue League of Des Moines, but the plan is to take a very measured approach that could take up to 18 months for implementation.
