CAMPUS CATS; VALLEY COLLEGE PLANS TO FIX FELINE PROBLEM THE FIX IS IN FOR FERAL FELINES OF VALLEY COLLEGE.

Byline: Sherry Joe Crosby Staff Writer

Flummoxed by feral felines on campus, Valley College officials found an answer Wednesday: trap and de-sex the cats and then let them loose with their own private watering holes.

Seeking a humane way to control a growing number of cats on campus, College President Tyree Wieder announced the program Wednesday after a meeting of faculty, staff, students and residents. Animal welfare officials said it all could be financed with help from a $70 million private fund and donations of food.

``It seems that the cat population has expanded quite a bit,'' said Wieder who decided to initiate the program after receiving numerous complaints about foul odors, fleas and feces from the cats who live and produce litters underneath campus buildings.

News of the program angered some on campus who want to eradicate the estimated 100 cats, which they say are a nuisance and public health threat.

``I've got employees who are full of fleas from cats who don't even belong here,'' said Kevin Curtin, a campus electrical supervisor. ``We don't need cats here.''

Mary Burgwald, a financial aid technician, said the population control program may actually encourage the cats to live on campus.

``I'm not sure about feeding them because I think it encourages them to stay,'' said Burgwald who said the cats are a source of misery for her and her co-workers. ``We get flea bites, people have breathing problems, we've had a dead cat (under our building). It's not a good work environment.''

But program supporters said it would be impossible to remove cats from the campus, which is located in a residential neighborhood where unaltered domesticated felines freely roam. The campus also is a popular dumping ground for unwanted pets.

Cat lovers said the only way to deal with feral felines who fight, yowl and spray is by trapping, altering them and providing them with regular sources of food and water.

``You keep a stabilized, controlled population of cats,'' said Joyce Pieper, a feral cat consultant who lives in Woodland Hills and is working with Valley College. ``They do rodent control, they do good things. They're not just freeloaders who come here for free meals because they have no other place to go.''

Under the program, Pieper will work with Actors and Others for Animals, a nonprofit humane group, to organize volunteers to trap and care for the animals.

Spaying and neutering will be paid for with help from a $70 million private fund targeting feral cats, Pieper said. The fund was set up by a San Francisco couple who loves animals, she said.

Susan Taylor, executive director of Actors and Others for Animals, said her group will donate food. Campus volunteers, who already turn their pockets inside out to feed the cats, also will be expected to contribute toward the food bill.

``Between all of us, we could provide them with food,'' Taylor said.

Campus maintenance workers also will build feeding stations, elevated wooden shelters measuring about 3-feet-wide-by-4-feet-long.

Pieper said that the feeding stations will encourage the cats to stay in certain areas, where their territorial instincts will lead them to drive off other felines from the campus.

After the cats are removed from the crawl spaces of buildings, campus maintenance workers will spray for fleas and seal openings to the crawlspaces with thick steel grates.

Maintenance workers already have placed grilles under 14 buildings and portables, said Mary Ann Breckell, vice president of administration.

``When there's a health and safety issue, we'll go in and seal the building,'' said Breckell who explained that campus officials have been reluctant to seal buildings for fear they will trap cats inside the crawl spaces.

Having volunteers and experts trap the animals will remove that burden for maintenance workers.

``We'll have a cooperative effort,'' Breckell said. ``We can just come in and do our jobs.''

Ann Harootyan, a campus instructor who regularly feeds about 10 stray cats and has taken several others home with her, said she is pleased with the new program.

``We need to get organized, instead of (taking care of the cats) in bits and bobs,'' said Harootyan who is looking for foster parents to care for adoptable cats until permanent homes are found for them. ``They're helpless creatures. They've been abandoned. This is the only life they know.''

Pieper said a proposed Los Angeles City ordinance that would fine pet owners for unaltered animals also would help decrease the population of unwanted cats on campus.

``Hopefully, we can get that thing working and get this thing under control,'' Pieper said.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo: (1 -- color) Valley College police officer Spence Gorenson calls out to cat named ``Butch.'' outside campus police offices.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer

(2) This black and white kitty is one of many controversial felines on Valley College campus.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer