Animal shelter facing another feline catastrophe.

Byline: County Beat by Joe Mosley The Register-Guard

TAKE UMA, OR take Callie. Please.

Or choose among Cheshire, Bear, Mooer and Mouser.

And that's just Round One in the most recent multiple-cat adoption case to creep up and pounce on the folks at the Lane County Animal Regulation Authority.

A month ago, it was 24 cats found in varying states of health and attitude in a van parked on West Seventh Avenue in Eugene.

Four of those were neutered and returned to the owner. Thirteen more were placed with new owners after publicity over the case brought in enough donations to cover neutering costs, and the remaining seven were considered too wild or unhealthy to become pets and were euthanized.

This time around, 18 cats - all of them between 12 weeks and one year of age - were being kept in a van in Springfield, and were offered to the Animal Regulation Authority for adoption.

Their owner had been a violent crime victim, lost her home and job after spending a week and a half in the hospital, and wound up staying with relatives who weren't enthusiastic about the pack of cats.

"This is a totally different type of deal that came up with this poor lady," says Mike Wellington, the animal regulation manager. "So we're allowing her to bring them in just a certain number at a time."

The agency normally has space to hold a maximum of 10 cats at a time, but cats from the Springfield case are being kept in separate isolation cages so that they won't monopolize space that may be needed by other animals.

"We do have to keep (numbers) down somewhat for cases like this that come up, and they seem to be coming up more frequently," Wellington says. "And with kitty season coming up, I'm sure (cat kennels) will be packed."

Cats can be adopted on Tuesday through Saturday afternoons from the agency's shelter at 3970 W. First Ave., in Eugene. The adoption cost is $25, and new owners also must pay for neutering - $30 for female cats and $15 for males - as well as $20 for vaccinations and disease tests.

Pisgah trail patrol

Got a thing for Mount Pisgah? Can't stay away from its network of trails and variety of vegetation?

Here's a suggestion: convert your recreational time into service time. Join the county Parks Division's Volunteer Trail Patrol.

Patrollers help monitor trails for overdue maintenance, to answer visitors' questions and remind them of conduct rules, and to help out in case of emergencies.

The Parks Division is recruiting volunteers for the current hiking season.

An orientation session will be held at 7 p.m. Monday in the Public Works Department's Goodson Meeting Room at 3040 North Delta Highway.

The orientation will include an overview of the Howard Buford Recreation Area, a review of the Volunteer Trail Patrol Manual, and a sign-up for those who want to volunteer.

A Trail Patrol training session will be held May 14.

Build and they will come

The Oregon Military Department's own field of dreams may get a boost on Wednesday, when county commissioners decide whether to approve the National Guard's plans for a road that would connect its proposed armory site near Lane Community College to nearby 30th Avenue.

As you may remember, plans for the 122,000-square-foot armory itself are on the shelf until the Oregon Court of Appeals rules on a bid by opponents to overturn a local judge's ruling that would allow the project to go forward. Neighbors maintain that the armed forces center would be inconsistent with existing uses of property along McVay Highway.

But never mind all that.

The road, and only the road, is the thing for commissioners to consider next week. In fact, if the proposed "road stub" opposite Eldon Schafer Drive at 30th Avenue is approved by commissioners, construction could begin before the courts settle the question of whether there will even be an armory.

"The Military Department has told us they want to go ahead with the (road) approvals, and they don't want to wait for the appeals process to go through," says Tom Stinchfield, a county transportation planning engineer. "I guess I'm not sure what their schedule would be ... but it would be required to be done at their cost."

The Military Department sued late last year to skip the local appeals process and have the armory issue decided directly by the state courts, after its application bogged down at the county level.

Lane County Circuit Court Judge Lyle Velure ruled in December that armory plans on the 35-acre site are compatible with surrounding residential, commercial and educational properties.

The Russel Creek Neighbors Association, the project's chief opponent, contended in its appeal that Velure overlooked the fact that the area lacks adequate city services to support such a large-scale development, and that activities there would worsen traffic that already clogs the area during busy periods at the college.

Lane County reporter Joe Mosley can be reached at 338-2384 or by e-mail at [e-mail]