TRUMBULL COUNTY Cat population continues to plague city

A councilman says he has received calls about stray cats.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A councilman wants the county to cough up money to help the city battle what he says is a "cat explosion."
Councilman Al Novak, D-2nd, says he has received numerous calls over the past few weeks about stray and diseased cats.
"It's gotten out of control," Novak said Tuesday, prior to a council finance meeting. He said he planned to talk about the problem during the meeting.
"The county collects money from city residents for dog licenses, but we don't get any of that money and I think we should," Novak said. "We don't get anything. If we have a stray dog, the county doesn't come here and get it. We have to have our dog warden bring the dog to the county and then we have to pay the county for the cost of housing the animal or euthanizing it."
License money
The councilman added that he would like the county to give the city a portion of the money collected for the dog licenses so that shelter and euthanization for diseased cats can be provided.
County Commissioners Joseph Angelo, James Tsagaris and Dan Polivka could not be reached.
"Either we have to come up with a shelter or pay a shelter to take care of these animals," Novak said. "Shelters right now are so overcrowded that we can't expect them to provide the service for free."
He noted that he has received several calls from people who have found dead cats in their yard and others who say the felines keep showing up on their property.
One resident, Rosemary Ryskowski of Lowell Avenue, says her neighbor has 26 cats that come over to her pool to drink water.
"She keeps these cats outside and I have no clue how many she has inside," Ryskowski said. "The cats are very, very thin and the owner just throws loaves of bread outside to feed them. They don't ever get water and I can't keep them off my property. Something has to be done."
sinkovich@vindy.com