Stray cats in my area recently killed a bird in front of my house and left a bunch of blood at my front door. I called Imperial Animal Control and explained the problem and asked if someone could take care of it. I was informed that there is a charge $20 per cat. Why is this? I pay my property taxes (which aren’t cheap). This is not a personal problem, but a neighborhood/city problem. — Cat-astrophe, Imperial
We weren’t entirely sure if the question was about removing the cats or cleaning up the bird blood, but Imperial City Manager Marlene Best answered both.
Also, because Best said animal control officials did not recall getting this inquiry recently, we wondered if this was meant for Imperial County Animal Control. But, the question did specify the city of Imperial.
Best said cleaning up the bird blood, or if there was a bird carcass, would not be something animal control would do. Rather, she said it would be up to the home owner. If that had been an animal carcass in the street, however, she said animal control would have responded.
As for the cat removal, that is not a request the city has received in years, she said.
Several years ago, city animal control was charging a $20 deposit to put out cat traps or cat cages for strays. But over the years, the traps have broken and not been replaced due to fiscal restraints. Best said the city doesn’t even have any functioning cat traps left, so no one would have asked for $20.
Several hours after speaking with Best, we spoke with Jeff Lamoure, deputy director of Imperial County Environmental Health Services, which oversees county animal control. Now, we believe the call probably did go out to the county rather than the city.
Lamoure said cat traps are rented out to county residents with a $20 deposit and a $5 a week rental fee. He said that even though he realizes the letter writer is a taxpayer, he said the traps are paid for with taxpayer funds, so the deposit ensures they are returned.
He said county animal control has had this policy in place for many years.
We weren’t entirely sure if the question was about removing the cats or cleaning up the bird blood, but Imperial City Manager Marlene Best answered both.
Also, because Best said animal control officials did not recall getting this inquiry recently, we wondered if this was meant for Imperial County Animal Control. But, the question did specify the city of Imperial.
Best said cleaning up the bird blood, or if there was a bird carcass, would not be something animal control would do. Rather, she said it would be up to the home owner. If that had been an animal carcass in the street, however, she said animal control would have responded.
As for the cat removal, that is not a request the city has received in years, she said.
Several years ago, city animal control was charging a $20 deposit to put out cat traps or cat cages for strays. But over the years, the traps have broken and not been replaced due to fiscal restraints. Best said the city doesn’t even have any functioning cat traps left, so no one would have asked for $20.
Several hours after speaking with Best, we spoke with Jeff Lamoure, deputy director of Imperial County Environmental Health Services, which oversees county animal control. Now, we believe the call probably did go out to the county rather than the city.
Lamoure said cat traps are rented out to county residents with a $20 deposit and a $5 a week rental fee. He said that even though he realizes the letter writer is a taxpayer, he said the traps are paid for with taxpayer funds, so the deposit ensures they are returned.
He said county animal control has had this policy in place for many years.
