Hanover Park aims to help out feral cats

Feral cats can still hang out in Hanover Park under a proposal to be heard tonight by the village board.

But they'll be kept under a watchful eye.

A new ordinance, geared at reducing the feral cat population in a humane manner, allows for Hanover Park residents to run feral cat colonies out of their homes.

Those willing to take on the job -- and costs -- must be sponsored by an animal humane society. They're required to set up spay and neutering, vaccinations, tagging and microchipping.

Caretakers must also provide food, water and shelter to the cats, observe the colony twice weekly and write semiannual reports, again at their own expense.

The ordinance was modeled after the one in Cook County, home to an estimated 700,000 feral cats.

Talk of putting a feral cat law on the books began after several residents complained that a neighbor kept as many as 40 cats in outdoor shelters. The cats dug under neighbors' fences and defecated on their properties.

Opponents of the proposed regulations argue the nuisance won't stop simply because they're cared for.

However, a cat's behavior does change once it's spayed or neutered, says Tammy McAuley, president of Feral Fixers, a Lombard-based group dedicated to practicing and promoting the trap-neuter-return method.

Hanover Park's program wouldn't aim to release "fixed" cats back to the streets but to domesticate and possibly find adoptive homes for them.

Spayed and neutered cats "stay much closer to the food, water and shelter because they have no reason to roam and satisfy those hormones," McAuley said. "They stop yelling and the smell improves dramatically."

Police would have the right to remove a feral cat should the behavior continue. Anyone in violation of the ordinance could be fined up to $750 a day.

A feral cat colony program that effectively reduces the population is labor-intensive, said Kerry Vinkler, executive director of DuPage County Animal Care and Control.

"The program is very involved," she said. "If done responsibly, it could be an option in certain areas, but it requires community participation."

Vinkler says rabies is a major concern from an animal control standpoint because a second vaccination is required a year after the first, meaning the feral cats have to be tracked down. There's also the issue of attracting wildlife by leaving food out.

McAuley says setting up a colony is as simple as lining a Rubbermaid tub with Styrofoam.

"Programs that trap and euthanize haven't worked," she said.

Tonight's village board meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. at village hall.