GARFIELD — Cats have taken up residence on patios and near pools, on a roof and under a stoop, and a group of taxpayers in the city has had enough.

A handful of residents have brought their complaints to city officials, hoping for relief from the packs of cats that mate in the street and vomit and defecate in yards.

“The feral cat issue has reached epidemic proportions,” Councilwoman Erin Delaney said.

“We have to be proactive and work for a way to help both sides," she said. "I don’t want to be cruel, but it is a health issue.”

The city already has a TNR, or trap, neuter, release, program, that is run by a group of volunteers that make up GARF, or the Garfield Animal Rescue Foundation. Now, it is forming a committee to address the issue of cat colonies.

Tana Raymond, a former mayor and a founding member of GARF, said registered caretakers do what they can for the cat colonies that occupy the city, but acknowledges that there is no way to catch all the cats.

As of 2018, 26 cat colonies were registered with the city, ranging in size from two to 10 cats, not all of them spayed or neutered. Raymond said her group is in the process of updating its records.

One Park Avenue resident, Michael Rogers, has two small children and said, “There is a chance of disease spreading, and if there is even a chance that a kid can get sick, that’s too much of a chance for me.”

Neighbors have produced photos of sickly looking cats, cats mating and cat vomit on lawn furniture.

Raymond says she doesn’t consider the cats a hazard, and while she understands that residents may not want to deal with them, she noted that there is other wildlife in town.

“I do understand people might not want them [the cats] defecating on their property,” Raymond said. “There are other animals around, too, though. There are raccoons and skunks. It’s not only cats.”

She also said that some cat caretakers are “afraid to register their colonies,” but both Delaney and Rogers said there are ordinances in place that aren’t being followed, and it seems the group isn’t sure where the colonies are.

Delaney and Rogers will be involved in the committee the city plans to form, as will City Manager Tom Duch, Clerk Andrew Pavlica, Deborah Lavin of GARF, the city health inspector and health officer, and representatives from the police and the county animal shelter.

Rogers said the lack of public dialogue may have worsened tensions, and he hopes that cooler heads now will prevail.

“I’m a lover of family and community. If we are going to revitalize this town, this needs to be taken care of,” he said. “What’s the point of revitalization if there is a public health issue?”

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