Feral felines overrun 1-75 rest area in Ohio

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (AP) — 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 today.

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.