Pets or pests? Fresno schools shouldn’t hire exterminators to eradicate feral cats | Opinion

Fresno’s feral cat problem is so out of control they’re now considered pests.

More and more, local school districts, shopping centers, churches and apartment complexes are relying on pest control companies to eradicate the growing numbers of cat colonies on their properties. Employees of these companies bait and set live traps and sometimes don’t check them frequently enough, leaving trapped cats and kittens exposed to the elements for extended periods.

What’s more, pest control companies aren’t forthcoming about what they do with the cats they trap. One firm blatantly lies about the availability of local shelters and rescues. And school officials, when asked for comment about the practice, don’t respond to questions.

Last August, a trapped kitten left three days under the broiling sun was found dead by a cat rescue advocate on a Central Unified school campus.

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A week ago, Cassie Garcia received word from a teacher at Yosemite Middle School about a weakened kitten trapped more than a day in a cage identified as belonging to Eagle Shield Pest Control. Garcia took in the animal and later returned to the school accompanied by Fresno TNR co-founder Brandi Sherman. They’ve since captured two more kittens from the same litter and are still seeking one more and their elusive mother.

“We really don’t stop until we get the mom,” Garcia said.

Trap-Neuter-Return is an effective, humane method for controlling cat populations. There are 66,000 free-roaming cats in Fresno County, according to estimates provided during a Board of Supervisors meeting in June 2022.

While many California cities offer TNR service for free or at low cost, that hasn’t been the case here (although Fresno County recently set aside $500,000 for a pilot program for unincorporated residents). Leaving volunteers like Sherman and Garcia to shoulder the burden.

Rescue homes for Fresno’s kittens, those born outdoors or in loving homes, can typically be found. Kittens are adopted not just locally but transported throughout Northern California and Oregon. Adult ferals and community cats trapped by Fresno TNR are spayed or neutered – the nonprofit’s partners cover most or all of the veterinarian’s bill – before being released back into familiar surroundings.

A former vet tech who works nights in a human hospital, Sherman estimates Fresno TNR takes in between 800 and 1,000 cats per month during the spring, a time known as “kitten season.” In 2023 alone, the nonprofit fixed more than 6,700 owned and community cats.

In recent years, Fresno TNR volunteers began to encounter animal traps left by pest control companies at apartment complexes and shopping malls. There was a well-known incident in 2000 when two cats were found dead in a pest control cage outside Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, which led to protests.

This practice of trapping feral cats now includes two local school districts, Fresno Unified and Central Unified, which are contracted with Eagle Shield Pest Control. Other firms identified by Fresno TNR include Valley Wide Pest Control, Ecolab Pest Control and AAA Animal Control.

“These companies are setting traps on school grounds and going days without checking them,” Sherman said. “The school districts are hiring these companies, and I don’t think they realize what these companies are doing to the cats.”

“What these companies are doing is inhumane,” Garcia added. “Cats die in the sun.”

Push back from company official

Brad Kendrick, Eagle Shield’s chief operating officer, pushed back on the inhumane accusation. He said the company’s traps were recently outfitted with trail cameras that notify technicians when an animal is caged so they can promptly collect it.

When traps are left at schools, Kendrick added, most of the time it’s to capture a raccoon, opossum, skunk or fox but sometimes a cat or kitten will get stuck inside. On occasions when traps are intentionally set for cats, it’s typically because of fleas.

“Our primary responsibility is to get those animals off campus to provide a healthy environment for the children,” Kendrick said.

Eagle Shield’s field technicians are licensed by the Department of Fish and Wildlife. But cats, unlike raccoons and foxes, are classified as domestic animals.

So what does Eagle Shield do with the cats it traps? Kendrick said they are released away from campus but in the immediate area, acknowledging this means the cats usually go right back to where they were found.

I asked Kendrick directly if any cats trapped by his company’s techs get euthanized. He said, No.

“If the intention was to euthanize them, certainly the cameras wouldn’t be necessary,” Kendrick replied. “We don’t want to hurt them. That’s the whole point.”

Eagle Shield doesn’t mention cats on its website, which focuses on insect and spider infestations. However there’s another firm, All City Animal Trapping, that bills itself as “Fresno’s feral cat trapping and removal experts.”

“We always take the cats to the closest humane society to clean them up and integrate them into domestication,” reads the company’s website. “Fresno has some great facilities that are remarkable at integrating these cats into a healthy home environment.”

This statement couldn’t be more bogus. There isn’t a single animal shelter in the Fresno area, not even the Central California SPCA, that will accept feral cats.

When I called the number for All City Animal Trapping and inquired what they do with the cats they trap, the person on the other end promptly hung up.

Likewise, I received no reply from Fresno Unified officials (including Board President Susan Wittrup and the entire communications staff) to questions about why the district contracts with a pest control company to trap cats.

Guess they’d rather not answer.

“People need to stop hiring pest control companies to eradicate cats, and companies need to stop lying about what they do to them,” Sherman said. “We’re happy to help anyone with feral and community cats and ask that people reach out on our Facebook page.”

When cats get treated as pests rather than loved as pets, something is seriously wrong.