Officials Prepare Cat-Licensing Plan to Reduce Deaths : Animals: County shelters kill the majority of felines because the owners of unclaimed, unidentified pets can’t be contacted.

Officials of Ventura County Animal Regulation Department are preparing a plan to license cats in an effort to cut down on the number that is put to death each year when owners fail to claim them.

Last fiscal year, the county’s Camarillo shelter took in 9,481 cats, and 7,711 of them were put to death, said Kathy Jenks, animal regulation director. “We’re tired of having to kill them,” she said. “No one’s coming to get them.”

Only 173 cats were claimed by their owners, and 1,597 were adopted, Jenks said. On average, a cat is held for four days and put up for adoption on the fifth day.

“Then they can (be euthanized) anytime after that,” Jenks said.

Dogs, on the other hand, have a better chance of survival because they must be licensed and owners can be contacted, Jenks said. In the last fiscal year, which ended June 30, 8,939 dogs were brought in to the Camarillo shelter and 2,263 were reclaimed, she said.

Jenks is developing a proposal to require that cats be licensed, which she hopes to bring before the Ventura County Board of Supervisors next month. The plan, which would go into effect Jan. 1, would also require that cats, like dogs, be vaccinated against rabies. The plan would be presented to the county’s 10 cities as well, she said.

Joyce George, president of the Humane Society of Ventura County, was enthusiastic about the idea because her Ojai-based shelter destroys 75% to 80% of its felines. During the breeding season, it receives as many as 60 cats and kittens per day, she said.

“There are too many cats destroyed simply because they are not identifiable,” George said. “People are a little more responsible about their dogs, but cats have been treated as second-class citizens for a lot of years.”

Requiring cats to be vaccinated against rabies is also a public service, George said, because they tend to come in frequent contact with animals that may carry rabies, such as squirrels and bats.

“If anyone should have rabies shots, it should be cats,” she said. “Cats encounter potentially rabid animals much more than dogs do.”

Jenks estimated that there are 115,000 domestic cats in Ventura County. Under her proposal, licensing could be done by mail or in person. “You send a copy of the rabies shot, and a check, and we send you back your license,” she said.

Like dog owners, cat owners would have to pay $25 annually for pets that are not spayed or neutered, and $7.50 for those that are. Last year, the county collected about $500,000 from dog license fees, Jenks said, and most of it went to treating injured animals.

Officials are hoping that the reduced fee for spayed and neutered pets will encourage more owners to alter their cats and dogs.

“Cats are more prolific than dogs,” George said. “They can have three or four litters a year, and their litters are larger. They’re out there loose, running around, populating.”

Alicia Jeffrey, a 21-year-old Ventura veterinary technician and the owner of two cats, said that licensing would be worth the slight inconvenience.

“My cats are ‘inside’ cats, and if they do happen to get out, I would like to know that the Humane Society could contact me,” she said. “It is a worthwhile thing for pet owners who really care about their animals.”