Schaumburg looks at kitty control

Schaumburg officials are considering a new, humane method of controlling wild cat populations that recently became permitted throughout most of Cook County.

The county ordinance -- which describes a way of trapping, neutering and releasing wild cats -- took effect Nov. 16. But Schaumburg was among the home rule municipalities not automatically included.

Cherie Travis is the president of the PACT Humane Society, which operates largely in the Schaumburg area. She's also an attorney who lobbied for the Cook County ordinance.

Travis said she was disappointed her work hadn't had an effect on her own area.

"It's very important to us to get Schaumburg involved," Travis told the village's health and human service committee Thursday. "There's this enormous wealth of people who want to volunteer for this, and it would be at our expense, not yours."

In Wheeling, volunteer Serena Fried recently completed the first year of operating her new Feral Feline Project, which employs the trap-neuter-release system in and near that village.

For Fried, who was already operating with the knowledge and endorsement of Wheeling officials, the Cook County ordinance merely added a couple of requirements to her routine.

The wild cats she traps and releases must now receive three-year rabies vaccinations and ID microchips, in addition to being neutered.

"It's been very successful," she said of her first summer and fall. "We've probably done a little more than 100 cats."

Last summer, Wheeling Deputy Police Chief William Benson praised the program for the time it's freed his community service officers from cat-related calls.

Schaumburg officials, however, don't recognize such a pressing problem with wild cats in their community.

"I have no reason to be opposed to this program, but I don't think our situation is as dramatic as the one shown here in the number of cats," Trustee Marge Connelly said after seeing a video on the trap-and-release program.

The village staff plans to review the information and recommend a course of action to the health and human services committee within the next few months.