Ellsworth boys rescued from train car Two five-year-old Ellsworth boys were rescued from the inside of a coal car July 28 on the rairoad tracks in Ellsworth. No injuries were reported. Friday July 30 After Harvest Czech Festival Wilson Wilson celebrates its 50th annual festival this year. The festival continues Saturday, July 30, and include a large parade and many other activities.
			Holyrood battles cats By Mark McCoy Last Updated: August 12, 2009 Holyrood has a cat problem. Feral cats dominated Monday night's meeting of the Holyrood City Council. While it was agreed the cats probably help with containing vermin, the unregistered and stray cats cause problems for citizens,  as they often destroy or damage private property. Kristi Herber, a licensed veterinary assistant, addressed the council on the issue, offering her expertise in the area. She has done some preliminary research in the hopes of resolving the situation without having to euthanize the felines. “I want to make it clear that I am not the cat lady," Herber repeatedly said during the meeting. Herber has contacted a veterinarian  about starting a program where the city would trap the stray cats, sterilize them, then release them. Sick or disease-laden cats would be euthanized. She said Tennessee State University has such a program which covers the state, but that Kansas State University's program only covers Riley County. Another option would be to live trap the cats and relocate them to a farm or take them to an animal shelter. The problem with that option is many cities do not accept out-of-area animals, plus it would take city employees time to transport them to cities that do. Part of the problem stems from citizens feeding the strays. Council member Susan Schaefer admitted she was one of them. “I feed the stray cats because I feel sorry for them," she said. “But if they disappeared, I wouldn't really care." Council member Erik Howell pointed out that perhaps to some residents, the strays they were feeding could be looked upon as pets, which could cloud the issue of strays and pets. City clerk Neysa Brown suggested city attorney Carey Hipp attend the next council meeting to help them understand the laws concerning the problem. The council asked Herber to further research the issue and attend the next council meeting with her findings. Read the Aug. 6 edition of the I-R for more on the cats and other Holyrood news.     2 Comments   |   Add a comment     The Holyrood city council, needs to spend time dealing with problems like buildings falling down     and other problems this town has besides CATS. Anonymous Aug 7, 2009 09:53 AM       "While it was agreed the cats probably help with containing vermin,"         Scientific studies have shown:     “Cats at artificially high densities, sustained by supplemental feeding, reduce abundance of native rodent and bird populations, change the rodent species composition, and may facilitate the expansion of the house mouse into new areas.” (Hawkins, C.C., W.E. Grant,and M.T.Longnecker.1999.Effect of subsidized house cats on California birds and rodents. Transactions of the Western Section of The Wildlife Society 35:29-33)     Taking pity on the unwanted pets enables them to prey on our native fauna! There is nothing compassionate, non-lethal, nor humane about them killing hundreds of millions of our birds, reptiles, mammals, and amphibians each year! Those cats create an environmental emergency, not an animal welfare one! BirdAdvocate Aug 7, 2009 04:58 AM
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