Commissioner: Once stunned by Taser, felines could be spayed, neutered

Betty Blair

ELYRIA — County Commissioner Betty Blair wants to catch feral cats in a novel way: Taser them.

 

A cat owner herself, Blair offered Tasers as a way of catching the hard-to-capture felines after a resident’s letter complaining about strays was read aloud during the commissioners meeting.

 

“We can Taser them,” Blair said, expanding on her remark later in the day by adding: “Legally, although we don’t have the authority to shoot them, you could Taser them.”

 

Once stunned, Blair thinks the cats could be caught and then taken to be spayed or neutered, which would cut down on the feral cat population.

 

ESTIMATED FERAL CAT POPULATIONS   Amherst: 2,500-3,800 Avon: 2,300-3,500 Avon Lake: 3,800-5,800 Elyria: 12,600-19,200 Lorain: 14,800-22,700 North Ridgeville: 12,500-19,100 Oberlin: 1,500-2,300 Sheffield Lake: 2,000-3,000 Wellington: 900-1,500 Source: Friendship APL

Commissioner Lori Kokoski said that’s not how Tasers are used.

 

“The only reason we use Tasers is to fend off an aggressive dog,” Kokoski said. “It’s not to catch a dog — it’s to fend off an aggressive dog.”

 

The third commissioner, Ted Kalo, declined to discuss the matter after the meeting Thursday. “I don‘t know what Commissioner Blair meant by the comment,” he said.

 

Blair said after the meeting that she consulted with county Dog Warden Jack Szlempa, and he said it could be done. For his part, Szlempa said he told Blair that cats theoretically could be Tasered, but he wasn’t suggesting it was a good option.

 

Besides, Szlempa said the dog kennel is funded from dog license money, and Ohio law allows it only to be used for dogs — not cats.

 

The debate about stray cats came up regarding a letter from John Lapinski of Rock Creek Run in Amherst, who suggested licensing cats and using the proceeds to control the cat population.

 

But county Administrator James Cordes said there’s no provision on the books to license cats. Not that he thinks stunning them with a Taser is a good option, either.

 

“I would prefer we never Taser an animal,” he said. “Unfortunately the Ohio Revised Code precludes us from doing anything with cats. We’ve looked at this off and on for 15 years.”

 

Denise Willis of the Friendship Animal Protective League said the APL is not equipped with Tasers, and its officials have never discussed using Tasers to stun cats.

 

“A humane trap with nice smelly food is a good option,” she said.

 

Peg Tucker of Oberlin, secretary of Community Action to Save Strays, didn’t embrace the Taser plan, either.

 

“It seems impractical as well as cruel,” she said. “It was probably a naive thought. You would certainly traumatize them. If their adrenaline was up, they would have claws and teeth.”

 

After the meeting, Lapinski said he’s glad the commissioners are looking at various options.

 

“I don’t think Tasering is going to work — you get within 8 to 10 feet of them and they take off,” he said.

 

He said one little cat clawed through a hole into his attic last summer, wouldn’t come out and died in the heat. Poison is a danger to other pets, and most animal control officers handle dogs only, he said.

 

“I think the answer with the wild ones — the humane thing — would be to euthanize them,” Lapinski said.

 

Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.

 

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