St. Bernard looks for feral cat solution

Residents in some St. Bernard neighborhoods are unable to open their windows because of the unbearable odor of feline bodily waste, and the village council is in search of ideas to address the problem.

The village council has been fielding complaints from residents about feral cats in several residential areas, including at a Delray Court residence that was recently condemned by Hamilton County Public Health after an inspector observed nearly 20 cats on the property.

"I have residents calling me. They can't even go out of their house," Councilwoman Diana Schildmeyer said at a June 11 meeting. "The stench from the cat urine and feces is so bad that we have to do something."

The owner of the property – whose number was not listed – left the windows of the house open and stocked the house with cat food about every two weeks. The house was condemned June 12.

But that's just an extreme example of a problem that affects several areas of the village along the boundary separating St. Bernard and North Avondale, St. Bernard Director of Law Curtis Walden said.

The council's Law, Contracts and Claims Committee is considering options to address the problem, but one option is off the table. At a March 19 committee meeting, Walden presented a draft of an ordinance that would have empowered police to capture and euthanize feral cats. The council immediately rejected it, Walden said.

Councilwoman Cindi Bedinghaus, who chairs the committee, said killing feral cats isn't an option.

A series of miscommunications led Charlotte White-Hull with Ohio Alleycat Resource to believe the feral cat euthanasia ordinance would be back on the table at St. Bernard's Thursday council meeting. She still plans to attend to offer her help St. Bernard with its feral cat problem..

"Managed properly, I don't consider it a problem," White-Hull said.

For White-Hull, "managing" the feral cat problem means capturing cats, sterilizing them and releasing them where they were found. Spaying or neutering cats lowers the animals' hormone levels, which means a drastic reduction in bad behaviors like yowling, fighting and spraying.

Simply removing cats from the equation won't solve the problem, White-Hull said, as others will fill the void, taking advantage of the lack of competition for food and shelter.

OAR wants to train St. Bernard residents to capture feral cats using traps. OAR's spay-and-neuter clinic in Madisonville would sterilize the animals free of charge, White-Hull said.