Some Stray Cats Get Shelter, but Many Remain Free to Roam : Abandoned pets: Adoption and sterilization show results, but there may be 2 million of the feral animals.

A longstanding controversy over cats that lived for decades among the beachfront rocks near Ventura’s Holiday Inn has apparently been resolved, but hundreds of thousands of other homeless cats still roam Ventura County, animal experts say.

Estimates of how many of the animals survive in virtually all parts of the county range from 350,000 to more than 2 million.

And, while efforts to reduce their numbers by adoption and sterilization have made some headway, the strays, on the whole, are expected to be around for the foreseeable future.

In the county’s shrinking agricultural and undeveloped areas, feral, or untamed, cats can survive by preying on rodents, the experts say.

“But in urban areas, they’re forced to endure the indignity of living off the economy,” said Dr. Mike Kelly, an Oxnard veterinarian. “They forage in garbage or take handouts when people offer them.”

Whether the strays are in the city or the country, Kelly said, “it isn’t a good life. They’re subject to disease, predators and the greatest killer of cats--the highway.”

Ideally, say Kelly and other professionals who deal with the cats, they should be humanely trapped and immunized against leukemia and other diseases. Then, the experts say, they should be sterilized and socialized so they can be placed in homes.

“As a last resort, if a home can’t be found for them, they should be let loose--but only after they’ve been sterilized,” Kelly said. “That, at least, would prevent a bunch of unwanted kittens being born.”

Other authorities--including Kathy Jenks, director of the Ventura County Department of Animal Regulation--believe that if a home cannot be found for strays, it is more humane to put them to death than to turn them free.

A Ventura veterinarian, Dr. Thomas J. Bulgin, has mixed feelings, although he does what he can to assist people who rescue strays.

“I love cats,” he said, “but the strays are a health hazard to privately owned cats. About 10% of the loose cats in the county are potential carriers of leukemia. If they get into fights or breed with domesticated cats, they’re liable to spread that and other diseases.”

Bulgin, whose All Cats Clinic neuters strays at a reduced fee, encourages people who bring in strays to obtain discount tickets that are offered by the animal regulation department. About 4,200 of the certificates were given out in the past year, allowing a $20 credit toward the cost of sterilizing a cat.

The county’s most widely publicized homeless cats--the colony that lived along the promenade at San Buenaventura State Beach--have mostly been trapped and relocated to a shelter in the Antelope Valley by animal rescuer Leo Grillo.

At first, animal lovers who fed the strays protested vigorously when they learned of Grillo’s plans. But they finally agreed to the removal when authorities, including state Department of Parks and Recreation rangers, assured them Grillo would give the cats a good home.

“We removed about 70 cats from that area between August and December, 1989,” Grillo said. “There are still four left from the original group. We plan to remove them too, but will not rescue any others that are abandoned. They’ll be taken to the pound.”

Grillo said the beach near the Holiday Inn had become a notorious dumping ground for abandoned cats. He said members of his organization, Delta Rescue, are patrolling the area and will report anyone seen leaving an animal there.

Jenks said abandoning an animal is a violation of the state Penal Code, carrying a penalty of a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Jenks estimated that there are about 350,000 feral cats in the county, compared to about 70,000 that have homes. Bulgin, on the other hand, believes there are as many as 2 million roaming the Oxnard Plain from Ventura to Point Mugu.

“We have pockets of ferals all through the Santa Clara River bottom, in the Ondulando area in northeast Ventura and in Ojai, among other places,” Jenks said.

Large groups of strays can also be found in El Rio, north of Oxnard, and around the Camarillo Airport, she added.

“And you’ll find them wherever there are mobile home parks. People think those parks are full of kindly old folks who would love to adopt their kittens. But chances are the parks’ residents already have all the pets they need.”

Jenks and other animal experts agreed on one point--it is cruel to abandon a cat or any other animal.

“If you can’t find them a home, it’s far more humane to bring them to the animal shelter,” Jenks said. “There, at least, they won’t be subject to starvation, disease and predators. The quality of life for stray cats is very poor.”

Jenks said 8,567 cats were brought to the county shelter in Camarillo during the year that ended June 30. Of these, new homes were found for 1,231 and owners reclaimed 179.

The number of cats brought to the shelter was down 20% from the previous year, Jenks said. This, she said, indicates that the sterilization discount program, inaugurated two years ago, is proving successful.

Jolene Hoffman, director of the Humane Society of Ventura County shelter in Ojai, said she also has seen a decrease this year in the number of cats brought to her facility. A total of 1,849 were taken to the shelter in 1989, of which 491 were later adopted.

At both the county and Humane Society shelters, cats are kept as long as possible in the hope that homes will be found for them. If they must be put to death, that is done by painless injection.

“It’s kinder to put them to sleep than to let them live free,” Hoffman said.

Hoffman said the Humane Society provides cat owners with a $10 certificate toward the cost of sterilization. This can be used along with the county certificate, she said, taking a total of $30 off the cost of the operation.

Grillo said his nonprofit group now is removing stray cats from parks in the Oxnard area.

He said more than 250 cats and 500 dogs are currently housed at his organization’s cageless, air-conditioned shelters in Acton and El Monte.

“Our reason for existence is to rescue abandoned animals in wilderness areas,” he said. “Our members are also policing these areas to prevent people from abandoning animals there.”