The Bartholomew County Humane Society is struggling to keep up with the number of cats being housed at the facility, creating a need to ship some of the animals to adoption facilities in Ohio, and to other facilities on the East Coast.
Since last winter, at times the number of homeless animals has grown to what one volunteer described as “uncontrollable levels,” said volunteer Cheryl Zuckschwerdt-Ellsbury, a retired teacher who has been volunteering for the organization for several decades.
As the new year arrived, the animal care shelter at 4415 E. County Road 200S was housing as many as 200 cats, Humane Society manager Jane Irwin said.
After several animals were recently transported to adoption facilities in Ohio, Maine and Vermont, the number of felines at the shelter was down to a more manageable 104 on May 1.
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But since four female cats recently delivered litters of six or more kittens, it’s almost impossible to keep a stable cat population at the facility, Irwin said.
In contrast, the dog population is more consistent. Fifty eight dogs were being housed at the Humane Society on May 1. That’s an exceptionally high number that is virtually unchanged from one week earlier, Irwin said.
In March, the Bartholomew County Animal Control Department brought in 12 dogs and 21 cats to the Humane Society, said animal control officer Mark Case. His statistics show only four were adopted that month.
Whenever the animal shelter gets overcrowded, staff volunteers hear more complaints and concerns regarding the welfare of the animals from the public, said Humane Society office manager Anne Young.
Shelter complaint
In an email, Tracy Crase of Columbus claimed she saw cats suffering from unsanitary and unhealthy conditions at the Humane Society late in the afternoon on April 24.
“I don’t accept that criticism,” Zuckschwerdt-Ellsbury said. “We follow health care standards set by the American Humane Society, as well as other established national standards.”
“There are weeks when I am out at the Humane Society every day,” Mark Case said. “I haven’t seen any of these problems at all.”
Neither Case nor Zuckschwerdt-Ellsbury are employed by the Humane Society.
The facility doesn’t open to the public until noon so that over three hours of cleaning can be done each morning, Zuckschwerdt-Ellsbury said.
Nevertheless, the 38-year-old Crase insists that the facility smelled, and had a dirty lobby and a dirty and unsanitary large cat room.
While Irwin doesn’t dispute that claim, the Humane Society manager said Crase may have arrived at a bad time.
It’s likely the smell was left over after 18 crates of cats were placed in the lobby area both before and after they were taken to Pets Alive, a non-profit spay/neuter and wellness clinic in Bloomington, Irwin said.
The Humane Society frequently takes cats, including those who are already adopted, to the low cost animal clinic in Monroe County, where spay and neutering is available for $55 for each animal, she said.
Since some cats are caged in the lobby until their owners arrive, the unpleasant aroma was likely still lingering when Crase arrived at about 4 p.m. on April 24, Irwin said.
Cleaning procedures
There was only a mild animal smell detectable in early May in what appeared to be a relatively clean lobby near the enclosed cat room.
While Crase cited a lack of cat bedding as part of the problem, that is something that is typically changed whenever large number of animals are taken off the premises — as they were on April 24, Young said.
Columbus East High School senior Briaunna Myers completed cleaning out cat cubbies, which are large cupboards of cubicles for cats on wheels. Myers then pulled each cupboard from the wall to clean litter, food and hair that had fallen under them.
While Crase expressed concern about food and water bowls becoming contaminated by cat litter, the water appeared to be kept a good distance from the litter boxes in each cubicle, while food was placed in a different location within the large cat room.
Besides the large cat room, there are other areas where felines roam that include three recently-installed interior colony rooms, as well as a similar facility outdoors. Generally, these 12-feet by-12 feet areas help make felines calmer and less stressed by providing space where they can jump, lie down, or perch, Zuckschwerdt-Ellsbury said.
While Crase insists her main concern is cleanliness, she was also critical of what she felt was the Humane Society’s reluctance to fully embrace the Internet and social media.
After making inquiries about a cat on PetFinder, Crase said she never received a reply from the Humane Society. In response, Young said PetFinder, the largest online pet adoption website serving all of North America, is supposed to handle all questions and inquiries.
All social media inquires made directly to the Humane Society are handled by a volunteer specialist who works for Cummins Inc., Young said.
“Questions are not something we look for on a daily basis on Facebook, but we do check our social media outlets on a regular basis,” she said.
Irwin said she’s grateful when people like Crase bring up their concerns on a face-to-face basis, because it shows a genuine concern for the animals.
“We’re not perfect,” Irwin said. “We all make mistakes, and we do try to not keep making the same mistakes again.”
But the shelter manager said she does wish people would speak their concerns to staff and volunteers rather than going to the media.
“We live in a time when too many social media users have become accustomed to posting criticisms without fact-checking or researching their claims, Irwin said. “I don’t expect anyone to understand all the reasons for the things that happen here,” Irwin said. “But if anybody wants to know, all they need to do is ask.”
Crase wrote that, under the right conditions, she might be willing to volunteer to help clean the facility. In response, Zuckschwerdt-Ellsbury says volunteering can be quite an educational experience.
Those who volunteer quickly learn that feline overpopulation has been a serious problem throughout the county for more than a year, Zuckschwerdt-Ellsbury said.
Many also find out that while it took 20 years of education to convince local residents to spay and neuter dogs, most Hoosiers still won’t do the same with cats, she said.
In addition, there are a shrinking number of families willing to adopt cats due to commitment issues and long-term expenses, as well as an increasing number of people who abandon pets when they move, Zuckschwerdt-Ellsbury said.
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1966: The Bartholomew County Humane Society is established.
1971: First animal shelter built off Kreutzer Drive at the current location of the recycling center.
1982: Second shelter built behind the Duke Energy substation south of Columbus.
1989: Addition made to shelter.
2004: Humane Society announces need to build a new facility.
2014: Current shelter opens at 4415 E. County Road 200S.
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The Bartholomew County Humane Society is located southeast of Columbus at 4415 E. County Road 200S.
Information: 812-372-6063 or online at bartholomewhumane.org
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