BLYTHEWOOD – Blythewood’s local feral cat colony has survived another close call, and Cam Chappell, the colony’s manager, said relations between her project and neighboring Cobblestone appear to be on the mend.
Chappell said last week she received a call from Richland County Animal Control, notifying her that one of the colony’s residents had been trapped at Cobblestone and removed to the City of Columbia’s shelter. It was the second such trapping and removal in less than a month, and a feline apprehended Feb. 4 met a less kind fate than last week’s stray. Last month’s trapped cat was euthanized by the City of Columbia less than 24 hours after being removed from Cobblestone, violating the city’s ordinance that mandates a five-day hold on strays. Columbia Animal Services employees also ignored the cat’s tipped ear, which indicates the animal has been spayed or neutered, received shots and was part of a managed colony.
Chappell said she was able to retrieve the most recent abductee, however, and traps have been removed from Cobblestone for the time being.
“The good news is that Animal Control did as they promised,” Chappell said. “When they saw that a cat had been picked up from that area, they called and I was able to retrieve the cat.”
Chappell, who has managed the Homeward Bound Pet Rescue’s cat colony near Blythewood Road since 2008, said she thought the issue had been resolved days before the latest cat was picked up. She discovered last week, however, that Richland County had a standing order to place traps on the property and that order had never been rescinded. That has since been rectified, she said, and a better working relationship with Cobblestone appears to have been forged.
