By Pauline Masson –
At the Tuesday evening May 16 board meeting, two local residents addressed aldermen asking for help with, what they described as, an out of control feral cat problem in their neighborhood. Officials were caught off guard. They had no idea there was a cat problem in Pacific.
But for this reporter it was flash from the past. A quick review showed that over a three year period 2014-16, I had written 15 stories about one local lady’s almost single handed campign to deal with Pacific’s huge feral cat population.
On Nov. 27, 2014 Pacific resident Michelle Anders stood at that same podium at the board of aldermen meeting, where supplicants appeared Tuesday evening, to report that feral cats were making life miserable for residents of her neighborhood.
She said the cats bothered the neighborhood dogs, fought and howled at night, and posed a danger to kids – and the city was not helping. Her plea would start a feral cat trap-neuter-release (TNR) program that lasted almost three years.
One resident, BJ Lawrence, a known animal lover, called for a city-sponsored program. She said several local citizens had been rescuing the abandoned cats and trying to find homes for them, but it is too large a problem for one individuals to solve.
“At one time I had 17 kittens,” she said. “But I had to slow it down. One person can’t do it alone.”
BJ said TNR was the best known practice to slow the growing feral cat problem that plagued every city. And, in her experience of rescuing abandoned cats she worked with several organizations that would provide the neutering service for low cost.
She was back before aldermen in January 2015 and brought along a friend. Dr. Megan Goss, chiropractor, of Union, who urged the city to adopt a TNR program, similar to those used successfully in other cities.
Mayor Jeff Palmore said the city could not trap, neuter and release feral cats because ordinances prohibited it. He said he personally loved animals and treated his cats well, but feral cats in Pacific were a problem. He said they were abandoned, mistreated and unhealthy. He thought they should euthanized.
By March 2015 the very public saga of the feral cat problem took an edgy turn, pitting cat lovers against cat haters, and both sides against the city.
Cat haters said the feral cats entered residents’ yards, bringing along small critters they had killed, and climbed on vehicles. The tomcats also howled and fought when the females in season. One young woman who regularly fed the cats said she was heartbroken that anyone would want them dead.
Richard Adams, then code enforcement officer said the city had taken action. He had trapped cats and handed them over to Missouri Barn Cats, an organization that took them to a rural area where farmers placed them in fields and corn cribs to catch mice and moles. New mayor Herb Adams said Adams had turned as many as 75 feral cats over to Missouri Barn Cats over the years. At that time there was no charge to the city. But when the organization began to charge $10 to take a cat the practice stopped.
Two months later, in May 2015 the city passed an ordinance to make TNR legal in Pacific and BJ was back at the board meeting with three experts in tow.
Tracy Quackenbash, director of Open Door Sanctuary; Val S; and Nola Wilkins said they did not participate in programs that euthanized cats, but they would supply traps and assist with trapping because one code enforcement officer alone could not handle the number of cats in Pacific.
Ms. Quackenbash said Pacific had hugely underestimated the size of the feral cat population in the city. She estimated there were more than 200 cats in one colony alone.
Mayor Adams said he wanted to try the program and asked aldermen to change the city ordinance permitting a TNR program and allocating $3,000 in the upcoming budget to collect and neuter 100 cats.
Ms. Quackenbash said she would help raise additional funds because there were far more than 100 feral cats in Pacific. Total city population would easily top 2,000 she said.
By June 15, the TNR program was in full swing in Pacific, with BJ as the program sponsor. By then she had trapped nearly 100 adult feral cats, delivered them to Open Door Sanctuary for neutering, returned them to the spot where they had been trapped and released them.
The tender hearted BJ added a new element to the program. She rescued litters of kittens, not yet mature enough to feed themselves and urged families to adopt them as pets.
Meanwhile the true size of the feral cat population grew as Ms. Quackenbash surveyed the city. She said that the population was over 400 on the Lazy Larry property alone.
BJ began appealing to the public for help. Residents who cared for feral cats could call her to have cats picked up, neutered, vaccinated and returned. Cost was $25 per adult cat. Kittens were taken away for adoption at no charge.
By that time she was also begging for additioal traps and was working with Missouri Barn Cats to accept some of the neutered cats to take them out of Pacific.
In July 2015 the local newspaper reported that the Pacific TNR program was a daily activity as volunteers trapped and transported feral cats. That month 52 kittens had been adopted as family pets.
Another challenge presented itself. Because feral cats are strong and determined to avoid human contact, the traps required constant maintenance. On one day alone volunteers repaired five of the 21 traps BJ was using. She still needed volunteers to foster kittens.
From the time she took the helm of the TNR program to early 2016, BJ’s efforts had spayed or neutered more than 600 adult cats and 180 kittens. All but one kitten had been adopted.
In October 2015, Ms. Quackenbush and BJ organized a fundraiser at the Pacific BrewHouse for the TNR program. The event raised $2,145.
In early 2016, as floodwaters of the December 2015 flood receded and the cats began to return to their familiar surroundings, BJ provided food for anyone who would distribute it.
If pet owners could pay the spay-neuter fee for family pets, she transportsed the pet cats to the vet.
By that time she was the face of the feral cat problem. Pigg’s Pet, local veteranian Dr. Jones, Brian’s feed store, Pacific city employees and others refered people with questions or requests for help with feral cats to BJ. And she began getting calls from other communities.
“I’m getting calls from all over asking for help, from Catawissa, Eureka, Villa Ridge, Jefferson County, and as far away as Hermann,” she said.” Even though I can’t use Pacific funds for these areas, I can help in other ways.”
In January of that year, at the 13th annual Purina Trivia Night in front of 1200 people at the Marriott St. Louis Grand Hotel, BJ was named Pet Welfare Partner of the Year for her efforts in organizing and manning the TNR program aimed at reducing the feral cat population in Pacific.
In May 2016, she reported. “Because of the free food I get, I can help anyone who is taking up the slack and feeding the feral cats. Folks are simply amazing at how they pitch in and help. This is definitely working.”
In June 2016 she captured headlines for another reason that did not surprise anyone who knew her. She spotted an injured dove flapping helplessly in the center of an intersection. She placed it in one of her cat traps, took it home, fed it and as it regained health – knowing that pairs of doves mate for life – she took it back to the spot where she had found it and released it, hoping it could reunite with its mate
As her health waned, she had to withdraw from her beloved TNR program.
BJ was always a public person, tiny in stature but fierce in her every endeavor. Sometimes to the dismay of official she was outpoken in city politics. But they accepte
On May 21, 2018, BJ Lawrence died. On Sunday, July 1, volunteers with Metro Animal, Missouri Barn Cat and Outdoor Sanctuary joined Pacific friends and aquaintances for memorial celebrating her life at the Pacific BrewHouse.
She is missed.
I was at the meeting and the first thing I thought about was BJ. She worked hard to help the feral cat population in Pacific. We didn’t always agree on topics but I did respect her and we were friends.
I can’t believe Steve Roth or Steve Meyers either one didn’t speak up to help these women. They both know about the problem. I have caught 45 cats at my house. But I stopped trapping them because you also catch other animals. And Steve Roth says the City shouldn’t be in the business of picking up animals anymore. When Jeff Palmore was Mayor They bought a new portable building to use as pound for stray animals. A man had left 10,000 Jeff donated 1,000 and the City added more to it. And I think it was Steve Meyers that came up with the building they bought. I don’t think they even use it. It’s behind the Street Department Building I think.