ӣ����Ƶ

The Ellisville City Council relayed the verdict at a work session to appease a handful of concerned cat enthusiasts at the meeting. Some residents had recently spread rumors that the city might call in county animal control to trap and kill a feral (wild domestic) cat colony at Manchester and New Ballwin roads.

Open Door Animal Sanctuary, a Jefferson County-based rescue group, has been trapping and neutering or spaying the cats in that colony. The approach has caught on in nearby areas, particularly in Pacific and Herculaneum, because it can reduce a cat colony population over time without having to euthanize any cats.

Ellisville doesn’t address feral cats in its ordinances, and it defers all animal control matters to the county.

But residents recently forced the City Council to consider adopting a formal stance on feral cats after one resident claimed a cat scratched her Jack Russell terrier, stirring up fears among feral cat advocates that the city might want to get rid of the cats altogether.

The county wrote the council on Wednesday saying it will support and work with groups that trap, neuter, feed and manage feral cat colonies, said Ellisville Mayor Adam Paul.

The county has found that previous efforts to trap and kill feral cats were “fruitless” in minimizing colonies, Paul said.

So Ellisville won’t do anything about the feral cats and will continue letting Open Door Animal Sanctuary manage its colony.

“Ellisville’s not going to do anything unless we hear of feral cats scratching kids’ eyes out,” Paul said.

Councilman Gary Voss said he thinks there are still some issues the city needs to address, such as what to do with uncontrolled cat colonies like one that’s next to the city in Ballwin.

Tracie Quackenbush, executive director for Open Door Animal Sanctuary, said she will send a couple of her staff to look at helping control the colony.