‘Cat roundup’ under consideration in Othello

OTHELLO — Othello city officials will review the cost of doing a “cat roundup” to remove feral cats, spay and neuter them, then release them back into neighborhoods. Cats were part of a discussion of animal control by the Othello City Council on Monday. 

Mayor Shawn Logan said a cat roundup probably wouldn’t be a one-time event if city officials decide to go ahead.  

“I think if you really want to address this, you’re going to need to do this every year — have a cat roundup,” Logan said. “But after two or three years you really will begin to make a difference. It’ll take a while, and you’re not going to round up every cat in town, but you can work your way through.”  

Council members approved a five-year contract with Hands ‘n Paws to care for dogs once they’ve been picked up, but the contract does not include actually picking up dogs. Heather Miller, code enforcement officer for the Othello Police Department, said in a later interview that actually picking up animals is the job of code enforcement. 

The state of animal control in general prompted some sharp comments from council member Corey Everett.  

“It’s out of control – it's horrible,” Everett said. “I see it constantly, on a daily basis. Even in my own neighborhood, there are four or five dogs that are running around all the time. I see them in the alleys, I see them in the streets all over town – something needs to be done.” 

The city began contracting with Hands ‘n Paws in 2024. Previously the city contracted with Adams County Pet Rescue, but the two sides could not come to an agreement over a contract amount or some of the responsibilities.  

Everett said in his opinion the animal control situation had not improved. 

“Our services have gone down – we knew they would, to a point, but they have gone down from when (ACPR) was picking up animals. And that absolutely floors me, because I didn’t think it could get worse than when we had (ACPR), but it has,” Everett said.  

Council member John Lallas then asked about cats.  

“I’ve got at least half a dozen of them every day in my yard,” Lallas said.  

“You don’t have very many, then,” said council member Mark Snyder.  

The contract will pay Hands ‘n Paws $75,000 for 2025, increasing to $90,000 by 2028-29. Under the terms of the contract, the city will continue to be responsible for picking up dogs. Othello Police Chief Dave Rehaume said the city does not have an ordinance to license cats or to cite cat owners for their pets running at large. 

“Would licensing make it easier to clean up the feral cats?” asked council member Genna Dorow. 

“I don’t believe so,” Rehaume said.  

Othello’s 2025 budget includes $350,000 to build a new animal shelter since ACPR housed all animals that its employees picked up under the previous contract. A temporary shelter has been set up at one of the city’s maintenance facilities until a new facility is completed.  

Public Works Director Robin Adolphsen worked on the design and said there are still some decisions for the council and city officials to make. 

“We’ve done the design work on it and did it as a temporary facility that’ll hold the first 12 dogs. And then we did it as a full (facility) that’ll hold 32 (dogs) which was part of the contract,” she said. “In designing that – that $350,000 only goes so far. And when we have to bring in water and sewer to the site, and fiber optics, just those costs get excessive. The piece of property that we looked at has some access issues, so there’s the potential of (moving) it somewhere else. We don’t want to build it where we’re going to have multiple issues that we have to deal with if in five years we wish that we had put it somewhere else. We’re still trying to decide where the best place is for this facility and then we can go out to contract on it.” 

Dorow asked if the shelter design includes facilities for cats. 

“The initial build of 12 kennels does not,” Adolphsen said. “The full design does.” 

Othello’s 2025 budget includes money for a part-time code enforcement position, which Everett said city officials should consider turning into a full-time job. Logan said 2025 will be kind of an experimental year, to see how the part-time position works out. He agreed that animal control will need more attention. 

“I’ve been getting personal calls, and you don’t start getting calls until there’s a problem. And there is a problem,” Logan said. 

    Layla, a female Husky mix, is one of the dogs available through Hands ‘n Paws, which has contracted with the city of Othello for animal care and adoption services.
  

    During Monday night's Othello City Council meeting, members of the city's governing board said they had noticed a large number of stray cats in and around Othello.