JEFFERSON — A picture of furry kittens on the front page of Sunday’s Star Beacon ignited a firestorm at the Ashtabula County Fairgrounds, as barn managers try to keep their healthy cats from being scooped up even as sick, scared felines are being dumped.
The Star Beacon reported the barns at the fairgrounds have become a place to dump kittens and cats, according to fairground regulars. The kittens are infested with fleas and are lacking proper immunizations. Some — the Star Beacon photographer saw — have untreated injuries.
Ashtabula County Animal Protective League board president Diane Carr said children brought kittens to her at the fairgrounds during the Covered Bridge Festival in September.
“One kitten had serious and very-obvious upper respiratory problems,” Carr said. “But I also saw some cats that were very well-cared-for, and it was obvious they were living nicely in the barn.”
Jessica McCallister owns several horses, which she boards at the fairgrounds. She said the barn regulars try to keep up with the cats’ needs.
“We feed the cats, and the ones in our barn are vetted,” she said. “We pay for it out of our own pockets because a lot of those cats really are pets.”
McCallister said people came to the fairgrounds to take cats after the Star Beacon ran a photo on Sunday, but they took the healthy cats, not the sick kittens.
“One cat was my 3-year-old daughter’s pet,” she said. “We came to the barn, and it was gone. People should just ask before they come in and just take a cat or kitten. Some of the cats belong to the horse owners. Some can be adopted. Just ask first.”
Carr said she is glad people are concerned about the cats and kittens at the fairgrounds but notes that people who adopt these felines should be sure to have them spayed or neutered.
“It doesn’t do any good to adopt a cat from a barn and then not have it spayed or neutered. Unaltered cats have kittens, no matter where they are,” she said.
Even as people wanted the cats, McCallister saw someone dump a small female cat on Sunday, too.
“The problem will get worse if people take our fixed cats and then dump unfixed ones,” she said.
McCallister said she counted 19 cats at the fairgrounds this week, many of them good mousers.
“It sounds like a lot of cats, but for six barns, it really isn’t,” she said. “I understand that people are concerned and there are sick kittens there that need help. But I don’t want people to think we don’t feed the cats or take care of them.
Local News
Related Photos
Discussion
People take healthy fixed cats from fairgrounds
- Local News
-
-
2-1-1 system aids people in need
Imagine being in this situation: A guy you met on the Internet shows up at your house and takes you for a ride in his pickup truck.
-
Woman climbs out of icy river
A Painesville Township woman is being treated for hypothermia after her car plunged into the Grand River near Vrooman Road Thursday morning.
-
Port project gets Pa. funds
A proposed warehousing/transportation project involving ports in Conneaut and Erie, Pa., has received a big financial boost from the state of Pennsylvania.
-
Ashtabula tax forms in the mail
Check your mailbox this week because postal carriers are delivering 2011 city income tax returns.
-
Conneaut woman, 89, hurt in crash
An 89-year-old Conneaut motorist remains hospitalized today in a Cleveland hospital with serious injuries suffered in a two-vehicle crash earlier this week.
-
Platinum workers aren’t being paid
Employees of a local health care provider aren’t being paid while the business is under investigation for fraud, an official at Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office confirmed Thursday.
-
Flu mild, so far
Coughing, sneezing, aching, nausea and fever are all symptoms of various flu viruses common this time of year, but according to area experts, flu activity in Ashtabula County has been mild.
-
State program designed to cut number of juveniles sent to ODYS
State funding is being finalized for training and implementation of programming aimed at reducing the number of juvenile offenders that Ashtabula County sends to the Ohio Department of Youth Services facilities.
-
Geneva American Legion remembers Four Chaplains
The story of the Four Chaplains is a solemn narrative of courage, sacrifice and selflessness.
-
Commissioners to help with sewer
Commissioners promised Linwood Drive residents that they will do all they can to reduce the financial burden of extending mandated sewers to their lakefront street.
- More Local News Headlines
-
2-1-1 system aids people in need
