New group to care for cats

Senior wants to leave strays of Oberlin in good hands

Every evening when the sun begins to set, college senior Rachel Wheeler calls out to the Oberlin cat community. The regulars, Zachary, Francis, Isaac, Lacy and Spot, as well as a few random cats from around the neighborhood, slowly creep to Wheeler's side as she prepares to feed them.

Since her junior year, Wheeler has regularly fed a number of stray cats that wander around campus. She said she likes to "keep an eye on the general welfare of the cats."

Although Wheeler said she is overjoyed that she has been accepted to Michigan State Veterinary School for next year, she is worried about what will happen to the stray cats of Oberlin when she leaves. She decided, therefore, to form an organization that will perpetuate her efforts to care for the stray cats after she leaves.

According to Wheeler, around 10 people have shown interest in the organization. Wheeler said, "We can bring in a new slant and hopefully educate the student population about why it's important to neuter their own pets, not dump pets at the end of the semester or during summers, and why it's important to get cats vaccinated and care for their general health."

Wheeler was first inspired to care for the cats on campus as a first-year, when a senior who had previously taken care of the cats in the community asked for money from Wheeler's co-op in order to help defray some of the expenses. She said, "It sparked a real interest in the work I am doing."

Wheeler then began to sporadically feed and care for cats until her junior year, when she committed herself to taking care of the stray cats on a daily basis.

Wheeler has paid for 15 cats to be spayed and one neutered with her own funds and donations from six co-ops. She has also placed 12-15 cats in permanent homes. The operations, as well as the cat food expenses, have forced Wheeler to dip into her own allowance, provided by her parents and work as a waitress at Pizza Hut because Oberlin Aid To Strays (OAS) only cares for stray dogs in the community.

Although it is in OAS charter for the organization to help stray cats, college senior Kiki Bennett explained that there is no room for cats and that caring for cats is more expensive than caring for dogs. She said is difficult to place cats in homes since there is a great number of them roaming through the community.

According to Wheeler, cages would be stressful to cats because they are used to walking around freely. Wheeler, however, said she is discouraged to find that OAS will not provide a place for stray cats in the new facility they are building.

Wheeler said, "I can't ask them to put in more, knowing how much they do already. They've done a lot for dogs."

On Wednesday, Josephine, one of the regular stray cats, was put to sleep at the vet clinic because she was diagnosed with a severe case of leukemia.

Wheeler stressed how important it is for cat owners to vaccinate their cats. She also said that if their cats are diagnosed with leukemia, cat owners should keep the cats indoors in order to protect other cats from getting the disease.

The new stray cats organization is looking to educate the student body in this matter as well as on how to care for cats in general. Members plan to create a general brochure explaining these issues, offer a discount of approximately $10 to those who get ing a meeting. She recently joined Wheeler in her daily visits with the cats. Since the cats are shy at first, Wheeler said, she wants the cats to get to know Telsey before graduation.

Telsey said she became involved with the organization because "students are not aware of the huge population crisis." She also said she would like to see more people involved in this organization. Telsey hopes the organization will influence people to become responsible pet owners.

Director of Security Joe Di Christina was concerned during fall semester with the stray cats on campus. He said that the grounds people were frustrated with cleaning up after the cats. DiChristina find out from Wheeler what her intentions were for caring for the cats.

Di Christina said that after speaking with her, "I know that Rachel's a caring individual and she's trying to help. We're appreciative of that."

Waiting for food: Stray cats proliferate around campus; here are two on North Quad. (photo by Alex Warnow)