Is someone going to the Ansonia pound, adopting cats, then freeing the felines?
That’s the question John Kichar posed to the Ansonia Police Commission Wednesday.
Kichar lives on Day Street. He said he’s been noticing an awful lot of cats gathering on his road.
“You’re not feeding them, right?” commissioner Nicholas Amico asked.
“No,” Kichar said.
Word in the neighborhood is that an animal lover is adopting cats so the felines won’t be put to sleep, Kichar said.
Chief Kevin Hale said he hadn’t heard of anything like that. He doubted it’s true, since the city’s Animal Control Officer focuses on roaming dogs, as opposed to cats. It’s “extremely rare” for a cat to be put down, the chief said.
State records show of the 131 animals brought to the Ansonia animal shelter from July 2009 to June 2010, just three were euthanized. Efforts are underway to raise money for a shelter for cats.
Capturing cats is expensive, Hale said, because the city picks up the tab for veterinary care. The city used to receive a grant to offset cat capture costs — but that money dried up, the chief said. So, there very well be more feral cats in the city, Hale said.
Hale said he’ll send the animal control officer to Day Street to check out the cat population.
Kichar also asked whether police had ever caught the other two pitbulls thought to be roaming the city in August.
Hale said they captured one on Howard Avenue. The reports of roaming dogs then stopped after the pitbull was caught, leading police to believe that they could have been receiving three different descriptions for a single animal.
The city’s animal control officer tried to get the captured pitbull adopted, but the dog’s aggression made it impossible. It was euthanized, Hale said.
“There were rescue groups that wouldn’t touch it,” Hale said.
Random Police Commission Notes
- The state Department of Transportation is willing to put up temporary “no parking” signs on Bridge Street from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. The Police Commission originally wanted no parking on the road during the evening rush hour as well, but merchants complained.
- A sergeant’s exam is scheduled for the Ansonia Police Department Nov. 10. Twenty-five members of the department are eligible to take the exam. (Click here to read background about an internal dispute over the exam.)
- The police department’s radar trailer was damaged after being stationed on the Pulaski Highway. Someone broke the Plexiglass and damaged the reflective lights. Hale said the repairs will cost a few hundred dollars.
- Work has not started on replacing the roof on the police department headquarters. Contractors are waiting for a few days of decent weather.
