Yuba County Animal Services Stops Intaking Cats

By Joy Smith

Last week, Yuba County Animal Services released the following statement:

“Due to staffing shortages at the Yuba County Animal Care Services Department, we have identified a few non-required services that we will be temporarily suspending in order to provide mandatory and priority animal care services to our county. Beginning October 14th, 2019 and until staffing levels allow re-implementation 1) our shelter will no longer accept feral or stray cats; and 2) we will no longer be accepting owner surrendered animals for re-homing; or owner surrenders for euthanasia. There are several rescue organizations in our region than can assist with re-homing of animals as well as feral cat capture for spay/neuter and release programs; and we are happy to put people in touch with such organizations. We also remain committed to working hand in hand with rescue organizations in order to place as many animals into adoptive homes or foster situations as we possibly can.”

Since the announcement FieldHaven is receiving more calls and pleas for help than ever. We would like to let the public know what services we can offer to residents of YCAS service area.

But first, a little information about FieldHaven.

At this time FieldHaven’s focus for cats being intaked to our adoption program is in the following areas:

• Lincoln and Placer County
• Wheatland
• Marysville city limits

We are a limited admission shelter which means that we do not intake cats or kittens without first contacting us and making arrangements. We only intake when we have available space so even cats from the above mentioned areas may have to wait for capacity space to be available. Owner surrenders have a surrender fee beginning at $250 and may increase depending on age, temperament and health status. We are no longer accepting cats into our Rodent Ranger program.

Our goal is to always find a way to not intake an animal. We have numerous services that we offer to help community members who want to help the strays in their neighborhood. We need you to be part of helping. Please only reach out to FieldHaven for help if you are willing to be part of the solution. FieldHaven cannot be the answer to Yuba County’s cat overpopulation problem. But we can help guide the community to solutions.

It is also important to know that FieldHaven is not a municipal agency. Our funding, in its entirety, is through donations, fundraising and our thrift store, FieldHaven Marketplace. We have a very tight budget and currently do not have funding budgeted for the unincorporated areas of Yuba County, except for the incorporated city of Marysville.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t help. There is plenty we can do by working together. Here are a couple of ways we can help:

• If you have a personal cat you [think] you need to rehome call or email our Community Assistance Team (C.A.T.) at (916) 434-6022 or [email protected]. Be prepared to discuss ways for you to not rehome your cat. What you may think is an insurmountable issue, we may have suggestions for helping you deal with it and ultimately keep your kitty. If, during our conversations, it becomes apparent that rehoming is the best solution we can help you with tips on how to rehome kitty yourself as an alternative to surrendering to FieldHaven or any other shelter.
• Stray and feral cats and kittens in your neighborhood – this is our specialty. TNR (trap/neuter/return) is always our first approach. There is rarely a situation where cats cannot be spayed/neutered then returned to their location. Funding is the challenge with TNR. We can help guide you to how to fundraise in your community and network to find funds. Following is a list of resources for spay/neuter and more on that topic below.

Spay/Neuter Resources:

PAWS of Oroville

• Feral cat spay/neuter – $29 includes rabies and distemper vaccine
• Non-feral – $58 females, $37 males plus vaccines

Animal Spay and Neuter Auburn

• Females cats – $40 adult, $30 kitten plus vaccines
• Males – $30 adult, $20 kitten plus vaccines

FieldHaven’s Hathaway Clinic – [email protected] or (916) 434-6022

• Feral and Community Cats – $60 includes spay/neuter, vaccines, revolution, eartip and microchip

There are probably more – please let me know if you know of any so we can add them to the list.

There is a glaring lack of a high volume spay/neuter clinic in Yuba (or Sutter) County for both cats and dogs. We need to all put efforts towards getting one established in this area.

Please support the YCAS shelter staff in making this decision. But much more needs to done. I encourage you to contact your county officials and ask them how you can be part of making a change for the animals in Yuba County. FieldHaven is here to support your efforts but the initiative for change starts with every resident of Yuba County that thinks there are too many stray and feral cats in your community, whether you like cats or not.

Adoption is not the answer to solving the overpopulation of cats and kittens in Yuba County. There are far too many cats, most of which are feral, to adopt our way to fewer cats. The primary way to address the problem is through TNR. That is what Marysville is doing. Let’s get the rest of Yuba County to follow their example.

Are you ready to help be part of the solution?

To contact me directly email me at [email protected]

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