Lynn residents say Animal Control giving cold shoulder to stray cats

LYNN – Concerned citizens may have been finding little help from Animal Control with the stray cats they stumble upon throughout the city, but it is certainly not for a lack of caring, said Animal Control Officer Kevin Farnsworth.”Our budget is totally stretched to the limit because of the dog problems here and the injured animal problems alone,” Farnsworth said. “We deal with injured cats and deceased cats. We don’t deal with stray cats for one of the most obvious reasons: a lot of times people call up and say there is a stray cat in their yard and it is a neighbor’s cat. Before you know it, we are picking up someone’s cat.”Residents who have a soft spot for strays, however, are pointing fingers at Animal Control and local animal shelters and hospitals.Jolene Higgins was jogging on Clarendon Street when she was approached by a multi-colored cat with blue eyes. She went to pat it and found herself horrified by the cat’s matted fur.”I attempted to pick up the cat to carry it home and call the animal control officer, but she yelled out a cry when I touched her stomach due to the massive amounts of tightly tangled fur,” Higgins said. “I could tell she was dehydrated and hungry. I ran home and called Lynn Animal Control and they told me, ‘There are too many stray cats, we are only able to send out animal control to pick up stray dogs.'”Higgins said the person she spoke with was unable to suggest other options and she couldn’t believe the city wouldn’t “take action to help this poor, sick animal.”Farnsworth said his office does keep a list of lost and found cats and kittens in the pound at the North Shore Animal Hospital in the event someone finds a friendly cat that may be someone’s missing pet. Farnsworth said they have taken in some stray kittens or mother cats who are giving birth on someone’s property, but the problem is usually the animal’s owners.”The biggest problem is people have to start taking responsibility for their own animals,” he said. “It is not the city’s job to take care of disposing of their animals. It is up to them to turn them in to a shelter and do the right thing. We are inundated with calls between wildlife, domestic animals and we are overflowing with calls and situations we have to deal with as it is. We cannot take responsibility for people’s pets.”Farnsworth said that there is not an unusual number of strays and pet owners need to be careful about keeping their animals inside.”I hate to say it, but we have coyotes in the area and they have a way of cleaning out the feral and stray cats,” Farnsworth said. “If you want a cat you should keep them in, especially if you know coyotes are in the area because they will go after them.”Farnsworth said people who find stray cats should check the lost and found list first. If that option does not pan out, he said kittens and cats can be taken to the Animal Rescue League, the MSPCA or other shelters in the area.Laurie McCannon, director at the Northeast Animal Shelter, said the shelter takes in more strays than it has room for, but they do the best they can with the help of foster care volunteers.”We do have a waiting-for-foster-care list,” McCannon said. “We have people call us that found a pregnant cat outside, a mother cat and kittens or something like that and we actually have a wait list of those people who are waiting, hoping we can help. Unfortunately shelters have rules and regulations but we try to help each and every one as best we can.”She said the shelter appreciates people willing to go the extra mile to help cats they find outside. To become a foster care provider, an application can be sent from the shelter by mail, filled out in person at the Northeast Animal Shelter or downloaded online at www.northeastanimalshelter.org.