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FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2022
VOL. 130, NO. 52 Serving the Lower Columbia Region since 1891
Saving feral cats in Columbia County ZOE GOTTLIEB chronicle2@countrymedia.net
T
hough her hours are long and unpredictable, though the work never seems to stop and at times reveals the ugly side of humanity, a Columbia County woman has made it her life’s mission to change society’s perception of cats. Mist resident Wendy MacDougall is in charge of Feral Cat Project & Kitten Rescue, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to “humanely reducing Columbia County’s feral cat population through trap, neuter and release and maintaining a dedicated kitten rescue.” The program is funded through grants and costs approximately $30,000 to run annually, MacDougall told The Chief. MacDougall said she started the program back in 2018 after noticing an increase in missing cat reports and sightings.
Zoe Gottlieb / The Chief
Cat rescuer MacDougall cradles a newborn kitten.
“The more that cats are freeroaming, whether they’re feral or a pet, the more predators you’re going to have coming in taking those cats out because it’s easy pickings for them,” MacDougall explained. “A lot of our neighborhoods are forested bound. So it became a well, what can we do to reduce the prey for these predators and protect household pets? And really, that was the beginning of it. But once you start working on colonies, you realize it goes a lot deeper than that.” Cat colonies are small groups of female cats and their offspring, according to petplace.com. “It’s a situation where a stray has been rejected, or put outside, or lost, or whatever, dumped, there are all kinds of reasons, and it’s not fixed and it hooks up with another cat that’s not fixed,” MacDougall said. “They find an area where there’s food. They have enough of a relationship with humans to seek humans for food.” An infographic on the Feral Cat Project and Kitten Rescue website shows how large cat colonies can grow. According to the infographic, two unfixed cats can create 2 million offspring within eight years. According to MacDougall, cat colonies are a problem 100% created by people who choose not to get their cats spayed or neutered. “They’re domestic pets, but there’s this attitude that cats run free, let cats be free, cats aren’t happy until they’re free,” MacDougall said. “That’d be all good and fun until you start seeing that this freedom idea for cats involves
Zoe Gottlieb / The Chief
These twin kittens were rescued by the Feral Cat Project and Kitten Rescue.
not spaying and neutering. And then when you’re not spaying and neutering, you’re witnessing a lot of misery and suffering, abuse.” MacDougall acknowledged while cat colonies are often cared for by reclusive people, those same people often don’t have the resources to provide long-term care. “We’ve taken cats with fatal injuries (and) cats with non-fatal injuries left to die and suffer,” she said. “There’s a lot of suffering by these cats.”
How it works Feral cat trapping cannot be accomplished in one session, according to MacDougall. Instead, it is a weeks-long process that involves multiple steps following the initial phone call. “Once I get a phone interview, I make a plan with them to go visit the colony. I go out there, and I want to see, is it around a home? Is it on rural land? Is it in a neighborhood?” she said, citing
examples of the questions she asks herself. “What other kind of factors am I dealing with? If it’s in a neighborhood, am I going to have to be trapping pets?” “I have to know the whole neighborhood,” she added. “I have to know how cooperative the people (will) be.” Once MacDougall knows
See CATS Page A8
$9.9M spending plan proposed for Clatskanie JEREMY C. RUARK jruark@countrymedia.net
Residents in Clatskanie could face increased sewer and water fees under the proposed $9.9 million city budget. “Inflation is killing us,” Clatskanie City Manager Greg Hinkelman told The Chief. “Costs for materials are on the increase and that is jeopardizing our efforts to conduct needed projects, such as capital improvements and at some point, that will affect our regular repair budgets.” To help ease the inflation pinch, Hinkelman is proposing a 3.5% increase in sewer and water rates. The city’s current sewer and water base rate would increase about $2.55 on average per month under the proposed rate hike. Hinkelman’s budget proposal also reflects needed improvements, including a $320,00 repaving proj-
ect for Tichenor Street. “That’s probably the most visible part of this budget,” he said. To fund the repaving project for Tichenor Street, the city will use a small cities allotment grant of $100,000 from the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). We’re having to come up with the remaining amount,” he said. “That will come from the city’s $4.7 million timber fund. It is dedicated funding. We are allowed to use $125,000 for infrastructure projects. So, $125,000 from the timber fund, $100,000 from ODOT and $95,000 from the federal American Rescue Plan funding will make up the difference.” Also reflected in the proposed budget is a $720,000 block grant for the engineering and design of a new city sewer plant. “We are close to executing the contract for that project,” Hinkelman said. Another element of Hinkelman’s
spending proposal calls for stepping up the city’s code compliance. “We are seeking a part time code compliance officer to make sure the city’s code regulations are followed,” he said. “The issues are overgrown lawns, people have junk in their cars, people living in recreational vehicles in areas that do not permit such occupation.” The 14-member Clatskanie City Budget Committee, that includes the seven-member city council, was expected to receive and approve Hinkelman’s budget during a public meeting Thursday evening, May 5. The Clatskanie City Council is expected to receive and adopt the budget during its June regular public session. The city has 10 employees, including Hinkelman, office staff and a public works crew. For more information about the city budget or city services, call 503-728-2622.
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The proposed $9.9 million city spending plan includes a 3.5% water and sewer rate increase.
Student challenges spawn stage show JEREMY C. RUARK jruark@countrymedia.net
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenges facing a small group of local students have resulted in a high
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Contact The Chief Phone: 503-397-0116 Fax: 503-397-4093 chiefnews@countrymedia.net 1805 Columbia Blvd., St. Helens, OR 97051
school stage show. The ‘Our Show’ play actually began after a significant financial loss. How it began The Rainier Jr./Sr. High School Drama Club had purchased the production rights to perform ‘School House Rocks,’ according to parent Cynthia Jacobs, who said the cost of a full production is typically around $2,000. “Unfortunately, when the pandemic took hold, they were forced to halt production, but were not able to recoup the costs associated with the royalty purchase,” Jacobs said. “They lost the expense, but never saw the profit of ticket sales and more importantly, students were never given the chance to perform after all of their hard work.” As this school year began, the group came together in their masks, and began rehearsing for a small play about the struggles of school violence today. “The students put their heart and soul into telling this difficult story, but due to events in Columbia County just two weeks prior to their expected performance date, their show was cancelled,” she said. “It meant another production without ticket sales and another lost opportunity for the students to perform.” Jacob’s daughter, Rainier senior
Courtesy photo
The Rainier students performing on stage during a rehearsal.
Isabelle (Izzy) Etten, stepped forward to write a new musical about the challenges that faced her classmates. “I wrote this musical because I saw my drama club struggling,” Isabelle said. “I found out at the beginning of the year that we weren’t going to have a musical this year because we didn’t want to lose more money from COVID like last year. It was a sound decision, but it still upset me. Not only was I losing the last two years of my theatre experience, but now the very last
hoorah as well.” Noticing that others around her were just as upset, Isabelle said she wanted to develop something that would help make up for the last two years the club lost and a production that would also bring her group together. “We needed something with a low budget, very little set pieces, and a small number of people as well,” she said. “Once I found that a play like that didn’t really exist, I began working towards making one.”
Challenges Isabelle acknowledged that in writing such a play she and her club faced many challenges. One of the biggest problems has been getting people to commit,” she said. “After we were allowed to come back to school I found that students were more willing to join clubs and activities but often had conflicting schedules,” she said.
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