Feral cat sanctuary recommended
By Mariel Garza
Staff Writer
A Los Angeles city panel Monday recommended a city-owned property on Oat Mountain, north of Chatsworth, be used for a no-kill sanctuary for feral cats.
The sanctuary, which would use the former barracks area of the onetime Nike missile base overlooking the San Fernando Valley, would be run by the Singita Animal Sanctuary, a Sylmar-based nonprofit organization that rescues and rehabilitates abandoned and homeless pets.
Jerry Greenwalt, general manager of the city's Animal Services Department, said the sanctuary would relieve some of the crowding in city animal shelters and would alleviate health and safety hazards caused by feral cat colonies.
"The feral cat situation in the city is difficult and in very many areas of city," Greenwalt told the City Council's Public Safety Committee.
Under the deal, Singita would lease the 25-acre site, which has been mostly vacant since the city acquired it in the 1960s, for $1 annually under five-year contracts. The isolated property is miles away from homes and businesses.
Singita plans to renovate existing structures at cost of about $240,000. Officials expect the city to incur no cost.
The sanctuary would take in about 300 cats and "socialize" as many of them as it could, with a goal of finding permanent homes for 15 percent, officials said.
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12/02
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