City council will take on a relatively short agenda this morning in council chambers, focusing on trucking routes and the city's feral cat population.
On the table for discussion is the possible addition of a new ordinance dubbed “Free- Roaming Community Cats.” This would allow feral felines to be trapped humanely, spayed or neutered, then returned to their original surroundings. This method is commonly called TNR, or trap-neuter-release.
Community cats would then be taken care of by persons deemed “Free Roaming Community Cat Caregivers.” This method has been a success for communities across the nation, and would save the feral cat population from being euthanized, city memos state.
In the spirit of good health, Mayor Dwain Morrison will sign a proclamation declaring the month of February 2015 “American Heart Month”.
According to the American Heart Association, roughly 85.6 million Americans are living with cardiovascular disease, and about 2,150 die from it each day. Heart disease is the number one killer in the United States, over cancer, and a patient is diagnosed with heart disease every 43 seconds.
Winners of the SNAPS photo contest will also be recognized at this morning's meeting. The contest was coordinated by the city’s Public Art Commission and judged by ASU assistant professor of graphic design, Edwin Cuenco. Recipients are locals; Anthony Wilson and Carrie Gamboa.
This year’s theme focused on the River Fest Celebration on the Concho River. “iPalomino,” which showed fans of a Tejano band snapping pictures from their iPhones during a concert, submitted by Wilson earned first place. “Billowing Arogsy” was the second place winner submitted by Gamboa, which showcased dancing street performers dressed as pirates. Wilson also won third place.
Tina Bunell, San Angelo City Finance Director, will be recognized as one of Lamar University's 40 under 40. The university is honoring alumni under the age of 40 that they consider to be “talented leaders, creative innovators and successful game changers”.
San Angelo’s finance department has won various awards from the Texas State Comptroller, the Government Finance Officers Asssociation of the United States, and the Government Treasurers’ Organization of Texas, under the direction of Bunell.
Maryann Vasquez, a devoted city employee, is retiring after 21 years of service in San Angelo. Her many roles throughout the years include, Administrative Assistant in the Planning Department, Executive Secretary in the Fire Department, Programmer and Marketing Coordinator for the Recreation Department, Community Information Coordinator, Assistant Recreation Manager for the Recreation Division, and finally Recreation Manager for Parks and Recreation Department. Maryann will be recognized this for her unwavering devotion and loyalty to the city of San Angelo.
Other topics of discussion will be the proposition of an ordinance designating truck routes within the city, an ordinance amending the 2014-2015 budget for new projects, incomplete projects, capital projects, and grants, and finally, items related to the 2015 Charter Review Committee of the City of San Angelo.
![Police Chief Frank Carter photographed the mysterious bus at the San Angelo Fairgrounds on Thursday, over 24 hours since citizens sounded alarms about "illegals" stepping off the bus at the old H-E-B.](/sites/default/files/styles/teaser_compact_extra_large/public/2024-04/carter-bus.jpg?h=a0667207&itok=xLf6UD5X "Police Chief Frank Carter photographed the mysterious bus at the San Angelo Fairgrounds on Thursday, over 24 hours since citizens sounded alarms about "illegals" stepping off the bus at the old H-E-B.")
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What? No article on today's "Heated City Council Meeting!"?
When will the Town Hall Meeting be regarding the, "They tried to keep it on the DownLow" Low Income Apartment Complex to be built on Valleyview?
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Permalink“Free Roaming Community Cat Caregivers" sounds like the politically correct term for "Cat Ladys".
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PermalinkCrazy cat lady was my thought, cats are a nuisance animal. They are nothing but killing machines and i am not interested in feral cats being on the loose, period. If it was feral dogs we would not be having this conversation.
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PermalinkI agree... It's not enough to trap and spay/neuter them... They reproduce at such a rapid rate that the trapping/fixing barely puts a dent in the problem. What about the illnesses they can spread? Have you SEEN some of these ferals? Infested with fleas and ticks... eyes matted shut. Starved, run over, afraid...
I dunno about the rest of you... but if I were a feral cat, I'd want someone to shoot me! I'd prefer to be indoors, curled up on the corner of my owner's bed... lapping water that's gently running from the sink, and bathing in the sun through the window in the afternoon.
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PermalinkMaybe before making judgmental comments and name calling, people should actually educate themselves on trap-neuter-return.
• Trap-neuter-return has a proven success record of reducing cat populations dating back to the 1960’s in the United States and to the 50’s in Europe. It is promoted as THE way to control cat populations by the ASPCA, HSUS, and the American Humane Society.
• Caring about another living being does not make you crazy
• Cats are domesticated animals. Feral cats are a problem that humans have created by dumping pets who are unaltered and allowing them to reproduce exponentially. Since cats were domesticated hundreds of years ago, and spay/neuter has been around for over a hundred years, people are the problem.
• Yes, it would be a different story if it was feral dogs. Feral cats tend to avoid people except their caretakers. Feral cats will turn and run from a human when given the opportunity. Feral dogs can pack up and attack, possibly, killing people. Big difference in the 2. When was the last time you saw a story about a feral cat attacking and killing people? I read stories on packs of dogs sending people to the hospital or killing them on a regular basis.
• Nuisance, killing machines? Please educate yourself and stop believing propaganda. Cats in a managed colony rarely kill birds because they are being provided with food and water. They do kill what I consider nuisance animals like rodents and snakes especially since these animals provide a threat to the colony. If you want to feed birds and not have feral cats come to your yard, there are inexpensive electronic scarecrows to keep the cats away.
• Cats in a properly managed colony are NOT sickly. Maybe you don’t understand the term caretaker? Cats in a managed feral colony have been spayed or neutered and received, at a bare minimum. their rabies vaccination. If a cat starts showing signs of being sick, the caretaker generally retraps the cat and takes it to the vet. The reason you are seeing sickly cats is because of the current laws.
• Cats who are spayed/neutered do not exhibit negative behaviors that can make them a nuisance. Females are not caught in a never-ending loop of bearing and nursing kittens. Males are no longer fighting to get the girl. The horrible stench that goes with unneutered males is gone once they are neutered.
• TNR saves government money (meaning your tax dollars.) Generally it’s volunteers who are taking their time to trap the cats, transport them to vet clinics, and recover them in their homes. When volunteers are doing TNR, you have more people involved making a bigger dent in a shorter time frame. Many people will not trap cats to turn them over to animal control knowing they will be killed but will happily trap them to get them fixed and return them to their home.
You can get accurate, scientific data on the effectiveness of trap-neuter return in this recently published article: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090023314002408
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