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.
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