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BOWLING GREEN —
Animal rescue workers are trying to find homes for about 30 feral felines that have overrun a rest area on Interstate 75 in northwest Ohio after some cats were abandoned there.
The rest stop near Bowling Green has become home to about 20 to 30 strays, The Sentinel-Tribune of Bowling Green reported Wednesday.
The cat population multiplied after travelers abandoned several cats there and employees and passing motorists fed them, said Tina Perkins, with the Ohio Department of Transportation’s office in Bowling Green.
“The population has kind of exploded,” Perkins said, adding that no one knows exactly how many cats call the rest stop home.
Department officials ordered employees to stop feeding the cats, but the public didn’t stop, Perkins said.
Transportation officials contacted the Wood County Humane Society about trapping the cats and trying to find homes for them. So far, about 15 have been captured.
ODOT reacted responsibly, said Kay Chapman, of the humane society.
“They stepped up to the problem caused by irresponsible people who have dumped them out there,” Chapman said.
Several cats are still roaming the rest area, including two pregnant ones, Chapman said.
The goal is to capture all the cats, spay or neuter them and then find homes for them.
Chapman says the humane society needs help from the public with trying to find farm homes and money for spaying and neutering.
“The only other option is to euthanize them, which we don’t want to do,” she said.
Information from: The Sentinel-Tribune
Animal rescue workers are trying to find homes for about 30 feral felines that have overrun a rest area on Interstate 75 in northwest Ohio after some cats were abandoned there.
The rest stop near Bowling Green has become home to about 20 to 30 strays, The Sentinel-Tribune of Bowling Green reported Wednesday.
The cat population multiplied after travelers abandoned several cats there and employees and passing motorists fed them, said Tina Perkins, with the Ohio Department of Transportation’s office in Bowling Green.
“The population has kind of exploded,” Perkins said, adding that no one knows exactly how many cats call the rest stop home.
Department officials ordered employees to stop feeding the cats, but the public didn’t stop, Perkins said.
Transportation officials contacted the Wood County Humane Society about trapping the cats and trying to find homes for them. So far, about 15 have been captured.
ODOT reacted responsibly, said Kay Chapman, of the humane society.
“They stepped up to the problem caused by irresponsible people who have dumped them out there,” Chapman said.
Several cats are still roaming the rest area, including two pregnant ones, Chapman said.
The goal is to capture all the cats, spay or neuter them and then find homes for them.
Chapman says the humane society needs help from the public with trying to find farm homes and money for spaying and neutering.
“The only other option is to euthanize them, which we don’t want to do,” she said.
Information from: The Sentinel-Tribune
