Councilman hopes to develop TNR program

Councilman Dennis Flores is gauging the community to develop a new program to help with the city’s feral cats.

Lorain Ward 2 Councilman Dennis Flores is gauging the community to develop a new program to help deal with the city’s estimated 9,000 feral cats.

Lorain City Hall, inundated with calls from concerned residents, does not presently have a framework to handle cat problems, Flores said.

While Lorain County has a dog warden and the Lorain Police Department has an officer specializing in dog complaints, presently there is no city ordinance or resources dedicated to dealing with, or directing citizens, to services on how to address and manage the feral cat population, he said.

Flores said he is hoping to develop a new program to enable the city to trap, neuter and spay cats paralleling a similar program in the city of Elyria.

In 2017, Fix Elyria received a grant to trap, neuter and spay approximately 600 cats.

“The Council Clerk Nancy Greer gets inundated with calls about cats and she has nothing to offer the residents or the citizens on the cat problem,” Flores said. “We realize that this is an issue and there’s a lot of individuals right now that do the trap, neuter and release program on their own.

“They go out and buy the cages, food and go on the weekends. There’s a couple of spots where people are dropping off their cats.”

Flores said he is hoping to find volunteers who are interested in getting involved in tackling the issue.

He said he is in the process of researching legislation undertaken by other cities and different grants that could be available to assist with the estimated $5,000 in start-up costs.

Flores said he also is working with Friendship Animal Protective League’s humane officers and will host an information session at 6:30 p.m., Aug. 8, at Charleston Coffee House, 630 Broadway in Lorain.