The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Woman ‘fixes’ 86 feral cats
Cat population growth slows with family, friends’ help in trap-neuter-return effort
A local animal lover hopes to stabilize Lorain’s feral cat population in a humane way.
Trap, neuter and return is a method of controlling the growth of colonies of neighborhood cats.
Brandy Randolph, of Lorain, has become one of the main practitioners, catching the cats, paying for sterilization and putting them back where they were.
By mid-September, her 2020 tally was 86 cats.
Randolph said she has heard arguments about the best ways to control animal populations — including euthanizing the felines.
“I’m very, very passionate on the other side of that of course, because, number one, they didn’t ask to be there,” she said.
In many spots, if the cats were eliminated entirely, more would move in, Randolph said.
Another reason: Sterilization is not that hard, and it reduces spraying, fighting and breeding.
“I’m very, very passionate on the other side of that of course, because, number one, they didn’t ask to be there.”
— Brandy Randolph, Lorain
Getting started
“It’s a very humane way to control the population, rather than killing an innocent animal,” Randolph said.
Randolph, now a trapneuter-return specialist for five years, began when her grandmother moved to Wakeman — and found a large cat population around her residence.
The animals kept having kittens and it was impossible to care for growing numbers, so the family wondered how to fix the problem.
That colony became the focus for a trap-neuter-return solution, Randolph said.
At her grandmother’s house, there are no more kittens, just the cats that lived there, she said.
Female cats can get pregnant as early as 4 months old; cats have a gestation period of about 65 days, and may have litters of up to 10 kittens.
Left unchecked, a feral cat population can explode in size in a year, Randolph said.
Randolph participated in early meetings of the Lorain TNR program.
At the time, advocates estimated Lorain could have up to 9,000 feral cats.
Lorain city workers have fielded many, many nuisance calls from residents complaining about cats.
That effort never fully developed into a formal city program, but Randolph credited the support of Lorain Clerk of Council Nancy Greer and former Councilman Dennis Flores.
Caring for cats
And her work goes on. Randolph only traps where she has permission of the property owner; she does not trespass or pick places at random.
The caught kitties end up at Mission Possible Animal Hospital LLC in Medina, where Randolph’s aunt, Lisa Taylor, is founder and owner.
The animals are spayed or neutered, get rabies shot and checkups.
Randoph pays for most of the costs out of pocket, but raises money and conducts raffles to cover expenses.
She thanked her family and friends for donating to the cause.
“My friends and family are as crazy as I am because they always donate to it,” Randolph said with a laugh. “So, it’s always worked out.
“God’s always provided. It’s always worked out.”
On the hunt
On Sept. 10, Randolph went to the Fairway East Apartment Homes, 3855 Beavercrest Drive, west of Mercy Health Lorain Hospital.
A colony of cats started growing around the apartment’s trash containers, tool shed and the wooded property line next to Fox Creek Golf & Racquet Club.
Randolph had caught 16 there so far this year.
She set up her traps and baited them with cat food.
Then she waited with resident Tiffany Arnold, who praised Randolph’s work.
“I thank God for her, she’s been so amazing since she came, because let me tell you — I wish you could have seen it before,” Arnold said.
They discussed the cats and residents who feed them.
At the complex, one family adopted a TNR kitten there and turned her into an indoor cat.
They also brought out another cat to socialize.
The residents agreed the sterilized cats became much more docile toward people.
Judging from some coarse language, it appeared another resident, who also put out food for the cats, was not happy about the trapping set up.
Randolph took it in stride.
“I appreciate you feeding them, yes, you’re helping them,” Randolph said. “But, you’re not helping the problem if you’re only feeding them.
“You need to fix them. You feed them, you fix them. It’s that easy.”
Several of the wild cats were seen.
One even sneaked up to steal the bait out of a box trap when Randolph had stepped away.
But, it was a rare night that she caught none.
On Sept. 11, Randolph trapped two at a location on Georgia Avenue in Lorain.
Her running tally is 86 cats so far in 2020.
“I go down any road in Lorain, I see a cat,” Randolph said. “Believe me, I drive around Lorain all the time, I see a cat on every road.”