BALD KNOB, Ark. — Stray cats are becoming a problem in Bald Knob, so much so that the city council formed an animal control committee this week to find solutions.
The alarm was raised in Bald Knob’s latest council meeting Monday. Mayor Gary Looney explained the city’s shelter only houses dogs, and there is no funding to change that.
One woman involved in the conversation then and now is Eva Freppon.
The dozen cats at Eva Freppon’s home started small when her Bald Knob shop saw a four-legged visitor.
“She was looking me right in the eyes begging for food, and she just kind of won me over, and I started noticing her friends,” Freppon recalled.
She trapped and then spayed that cat and many others. Now, she feeds 25 cats a day.
“I can’t catch them all, and I don’t have the money,” Freppon said.
Freppon and others trying to take in strays say a spay and the required shots cost $125 for each cat at their local clinic.
“We don’t have a workable solution,” Looney said.
The city’s 1985 ordinance concerning cats only requires rabies vaccination. Considering a requirement to spay and neuter roaming pets is not off the table for the newly formed animal control committee, but there are so many strays, that most say that would not stop the problem.
“I don’t even know if I want to delve into an issue of trying to pick them up, take them, and getting them taken care of and turning them back loose,” Looney admitted.
He said they need help and funding. Freppon hopes a free or low-cost clinic can visit the area to alleviate the issue.
Bald Knob Police Chief Larry House will head the animal control committee. There is currently no date set for its first meeting, but Mayor Looney says when that changes the date will be posted on the city website.