GRANTS - Grants/Cibola County Animal Shelter officials are asking community members who have borrowed humane capture cages for trapping feral (wild) cats to return the cages.

Animal control officer Sherry Baisden said the shelter owns four humane capture cages, two of them new, but do not have any at the shelter now. "People sign cat [cage] contracts," said Baisden, "but then they loan the traps out to other people and we don't know where any of our cat traps are."

Baisden said people who sign up for the cat traps are supposed to keep them only a week, but some of the traps have been out for months. "We have a list a mile long of people needing cat traps," she said, "and we can't help them."

Baisden noted that by not returning the cat traps on time, residents are causing a public safety problem for others. "Feral cats can be dangerous," she said, "especially when children try to pick up wild kittens or cats and get scratched or bitten." Baisden commented that feral cats carry a number of diseases that can be picked up by humans, and that bacteria in a cat's mouth and claws can cause serious infections if it bites or scratches someone.

A humane capture cage looks much like a standard wire cat carrier, but includes a special apparatus that holds the cage door open until after an animal has entered. A spring-loaded pan in the bottom of the cage causes the animal's weight to release the apparatus and close the door. Feral cats can be lured into entering the cage with food or catnip. Baisden said most people would only need about a week to catch a feral cat as long as they bait the cage every day. Baisden said she asks only that people not try to catch feral cats on Saturday evenings, because the shelter is closed on Sundays and no one is available to pick up the animals.

"I wish people would act more responsibly," the animal control officer said, "but since they aren't, we are talking about starting to charge a $25 deposit to anyone who signs out a cat trap." She added, "If they bring back the trap they will get their money back. If they don't, we'll take them to court."

Police Chief Marty Vigil said his department, which supervises animal control, has definitely decided to start levying the $25 deposit and will do whatever is necessary to get the cat traps back. "It is imperative that people return the traps so that we can continue our mission of controlling the overpopulation of unwanted pets in Cibola County," he said.

For more information, or to return a borrowed cat trap, call 285-4012 or stop by the animal shelter at 1728 Animal Shelter Road behind Diamond G Home Center in Grants.

By Marian Hamilton