Hart Co Humane Society Starts Petition to Add Feral Cats to Animal Control Ordinance

The Hart County Humane Society is asking citizens to sign a petition to include feral cats in the County’s Animal Control Ordinance.

At tonight’s Hart County Board of Commission meeting, the Board will hear the second reading of an amendment to the current ordinance that clarifies how the County deals with vicious dogs.

But Humane Society President Donna Madkiff said there also needs to be a solution to the problem of feral cats and kittens added to the amendment.

In a press release over the weekend, Madkiff said feral cats in Hart County are reproducing at alarming rates, and many are sick and spreading diseases, including rabies, which can not only be spread to other animals but also to humans.

“There are a lot of zoological diseases they can spread, ” she said. “If the feral cats are using the ground for a litter box and people are planting flowers in the ground, or the kids are playing in it… there are a lot of diseases that can be passed on from feral cats to people and their children.”

Those diseases range from Cat Scratch fever, to toxoplasmosis to rabies.  Zoonotic Disease: What Can I Catch from My Cat?

Several years ago, the Franklin County Health Department cited the number one rabies carrier in the County was feral cats.

In 2013, a woman was attacked by a rabid feral cat she was feeding. Woman Bitten by Rabid Cat Receiving Post-Exposure Vaccine 

In 2015, former Franklin County Environmental Health Director Louis Korff said feral cats are among the top carriers of rabies in our area.

“Cats and foxes are the two leading animals for rabies exposure. People really need to understand that if you have an outdoor cat, you have to get it vaccinated for rabies because there are wild carnivores out there that carry rabies, we know that,” he said after yet another woman was bitten by a rabid cat.

The same thing happened in 2013 in Stephens County. RABID CAT BITES OWNER IN STEPHENS COUNTY

And in 2016, a woman who was feeding a stray cat was bitten by the cat that later tested positive for rabies.  FRANKLIN COUNTY WOMAN ATTACKED BY RABID CAT

WLHR News reached out to District II Public Health for the numbers of cats testing positive for rabies in Hart County but so far we have not heard back. We will publish those numbers once they become available.

Madkiff suggests the only real solution is to get ahead of the feral cat overpopulation problem by having the animal control officer trap the cats and take them to Northeast Georgia Animal Shelter where they can be evaluated.

At a recent Board of Commissioners meeting, Madkiff asked that the Animal Control officer trap stray and feral cats when someone calls them but the request was turned down.

Now, the Humane Society is turning to the public and asking people to call and/or email the commissioners requesting they add stray/feral cats to the amendment.

They are also asking people to stop by the Humane Society on Reed Creek Highway to sign a petition asking for stray and feral cats to be included in the County Animal Control ordinance.

Or you can sign it online at Hart County Humane Feral Cat Petition

Tonight, Humane Society volunteers will be in front of the County Commission office before the commission meeting with signs asking that feral and stray cats be added to the animal control ordinance.

Anyone with questions regarding the petition, or the animal control amendment can call Madkiff at 706-436-0965.