Unmatched coverage: We are committed to covering community issues in the city of Fairborn.
More coverage: For complete local government coverage in the region, visit MyDaytonDailyNews.com.
What: Fairborn citizens forum
When: 7:30 p.m. Monday
Where: Holiday Inn Dayton/Fairborn I-675, 2800 Presidential Drive
By the Numbers*
Total animals removed by Advanced Wildlife Management: 475
Cats removed: 117
Locations serviced in the city: 167
Total cost: $37,909
*2013
Source: City of Fairborn
The city of Fairborn contracts with a private company to remove nuisance animals in the city, but it’s an arrangement that has angered some residents who believe stray and feral cats are being treated and killed inhumanely.
A large crowd is expected to attend a citizens forum Monday night after about a dozen people addressed City Council on April 21 with their concerns regarding the city's private contractor, Advanced Wildlife Management.
Those concerns include Advanced Wildlife Management using a gas method to euthanize cats and a lack of a trap/neuter/return program in the city.
“We’re more than willing to find another solution,” City Manager Deborah McDonnell said. “We’re not a humane society. We’re not charged or tasked with some of the things they’re asking us to do. But we’re open to a discussion to what an alternative might look like.”
Of the 149 total cats removed since the beginning of 2013, 147 were euthanized and two were released because they either had a collar or fresh spay scar, said Pete Bales, the city’s Public Administrative Services Director.
City officials said their relationship with Advanced Wildlife Management is strictly reactive — a citizen calls the city with a complaint, the city informs the company, and a trap is set at the specific location.
Advanced Wildlife Management will release a trapped cat if it has a microchip or collar. If a cat does not have a microchip or collar, it is kept at Advanced Wildlife Management and euthanized if it is not claimed in 72 hours.
“There’s some assumptions that they’re driving around the city’s streets picking up cats,” McDonnell said. “That’s totally false. It’s all complaint-driven.”
In 2013, a total of 475 animals were removed by Advanced Wildlife Management, costing the city $37,909. Raccoons (142) and cats (117) ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, on the removal list, according to the city.
The city budgeted $50,000 last year, and $30,000 is budgeted this year. Thirty-two cats have been removed so far this year, Bales said.
“For us, every single cat’s life matters,” said Julianne Weinzimmer, a Fairborn resident.
Fairborn resident Lisa McCain Null Hart said she has participated in the humane society’s stray/feral program for 20 years. She said she takes on average five cats per year to be spayed or neutered.
McCain Null Hart suggests a citizen committee be formed to investigate complaints, trap the cats humanely, have them spayed/neutered and return them to where they were found. Rather than the city hiring a private contractor, city funds — along with donations and grants — would be used to pay for the program, she said.
“There’s a better way,” McCain Null Hart said. “Killing cats like cockroaches really doesn’t work.”
It costs $15 for a male and $20 for a female to participate in the humane society’s stray/feral program, said Cathi Tschirhart, vice president of the Humane Society of Greene County.
Tschirhart said the humane society asked Chris O’Banion, owner of Advanced Wildlife Management, if they could visit his facility, but were denied.
“There is absolutely no accountability here,” Tschirhart said.
Fairborn City Council approved 7-0 a contract with Advanced Wildlife Management on Dec. 17, 2012, in an amount not to exceed $45,000. It would have cost $67,704 to contract with Greene County Animal Control, according to the meeting minutes.
The contract was signed Jan. 17, 2013, and expires Jan. 17, 2015, Bales said. The service fee is $89 to set and bait traps at a particular location, and $59 for each animal removed, according to the contract.
O’Banion did not return messages seeking comment. Advanced Wildlife Management’s facility is in Greene County, but O’Banion has requested the location not be released, Bales said.
McDonnell said she, Bales and councilwoman Donna Wilson were scheduled to visit the facility Friday morning. City officials had not seen the facility prior to Friday’s scheduled visit, she said.
“Anyone who knows about companion animals knows that to some people, that animal may be the only thing that really cares about them,” Wilson said. “I do not want to be part of any city that condones this kind of action.”
McDonnell said the city would be open to working with Greene County Animal Control or the humane society on a trap/neuter/return program.
Mayor Dan Kirkpatrick invited residents to the citizens forum to further discuss this issue and suggest alternatives. An online petition can be found on Change.org and an account has been set up on GoFundMe.com.
Kirkpatrick — who was a councilman at the time the contract was approved — said there were no objections then.
“When this many citizens show up to discuss the issue, clearly it is a big issue,” Kirkpatrick said. “We need to be responsive to that. It’s our job to listen. … But recognize here, too, that there are citizens in Fairborn who call us complaining about this problem (nuisance animals).”
About the Author