Saga of six stray cats involves Rialto landlord and chief of police
One landlord, two animal-control officers and the chief of police rounded up six cats last Thursday in a garage on South Beechwood Avenue.
In so doing, one citizen gained insight into the inner-workings of City Hall, while the Police Department averted a fur-laden fiasco.
After Gary Cowdery collected the key from a relative who moved out of one of his rental properties, neighbors notified him of a plague of felines that surrounded the home.
It was Tuesday evening when he noticed the first two. By 9 p.m. they had gathered from all corners of the neighborhood.
In so doing, one citizen gained insight into the inner-workings of City Hall, while the Police Department averted a fur-laden fiasco.
After Gary Cowdery collected the key from a relative who moved out of one of his rental properties, neighbors notified him of a plague of felines that surrounded the home.
It was Tuesday evening when he noticed the first two. By 9 p.m. they had gathered from all corners of the neighborhood.
There were 10 of them, by Cowdery's count. All strays.
"They (former tenants) had three cats, but I had no idea about the cats accumulating out front and around the property like this," Cowdery said.
On Wednesday, he called San Bernardino Animal Care & Control.
An officer brought him a trap and instructed him to set it out front, while he worked inside the house, Cowdery said.
The first was caught at 8 p.m. Another was caught five minutes later. Ten minutes later, another. By 10 p.m., Cowdery caught six cats.
He brought them into his garage.
"I love animals, but I don't want them run over by a car, hit, getting some disease, being rampant, roaming the streets like this," Cowdery said.
He has two cats himself, Rose and Violet.
Cowdery kept the trap out front overnight, but it was gone when he arrived Thursday morning.
After more phone calls to animal control, he found out the trap was stolen (a common occurrence, he was told), the city didn't have any more traps, and he would have to buy one if he wanted to catch more cats.
At least they could have told him to put the trap in the back of the house, Cowdery said.
They wouldn't catch the cats in the garage, because they were wild, Cowdery said.
"I got nowhere with them," he said. "They're not going to do anything. They're not going to provide a trap. I'm going to buy it. I'm on my own. I guess I'm going to release them in a mountain."
Meanwhile, the neighbors complained about the cats. One said she put mothballs in her garden to ward them off; another thought he had burglars one night, but when he checked outside, it was the cats.
He called the city administrator's office.
"All I'm trying to do is raise the white flag to say, 'Hey, I've got six of them,' " he said.
Two animal-control trucks arrived at his home late Thursday afternoon.
So, too, came Rialto Police Chief Mark Kling and his badge and bullets.
Instead of shooting the cats, he shot the breeze with Cowdery while the original officer and her colleague wrangled them in the garage.
Kling calmed Cowdery to the sounds of hissing cats bounding off the walls and scurrying up the rafters.
"The man was frustrated," Kling said. "This was a misunderstanding that didn't need to rise to this level," Kling said.
Kling said the public should call his office immediately if they have an animal-control problem.
The city responds to between 75 and 90 calls on a busy day, he said. Officers are often out in the field, while rankled residents wonder why their animal problems are unabated.
Kling shook hands with Cowdery and then left with his two officers and the six cats. Cowdery chatted with a neighbor in the front yard under a tree.
About 20 feet up, a gray and white cat snuggled into the crook of a knotted branch.
To report animal-control problems in the city, call (909) 820-2550 or (909) 820-2555
josh.dulaney@inlandnewspapers.com
"They (former tenants) had three cats, but I had no idea about the cats accumulating out front and around the property like this," Cowdery said.
On Wednesday, he called San Bernardino Animal Care & Control.
An officer brought him a trap and instructed him to set it out front, while he worked inside the house, Cowdery said.
The first was caught at 8 p.m. Another was caught five minutes later. Ten minutes later, another. By 10 p.m., Cowdery caught six cats.
He brought them into his garage.
"I love animals, but I don't want them run over by a car, hit, getting some disease, being rampant, roaming the streets like this," Cowdery said.
He has two cats himself, Rose and Violet.
Cowdery kept the trap out front overnight, but it was gone when he arrived Thursday morning.
After more phone calls to animal control, he found out the trap was stolen (a common occurrence, he was told), the city didn't have any more traps, and he would have to buy one if he wanted to catch more cats.
At least they could have told him to put the trap in the back of the house, Cowdery said.
They wouldn't catch the cats in the garage, because they were wild, Cowdery said.
"I got nowhere with them," he said. "They're not going to do anything. They're not going to provide a trap. I'm going to buy it. I'm on my own. I guess I'm going to release them in a mountain."
Meanwhile, the neighbors complained about the cats. One said she put mothballs in her garden to ward them off; another thought he had burglars one night, but when he checked outside, it was the cats.
He called the city administrator's office.
"All I'm trying to do is raise the white flag to say, 'Hey, I've got six of them,' " he said.
Two animal-control trucks arrived at his home late Thursday afternoon.
So, too, came Rialto Police Chief Mark Kling and his badge and bullets.
Instead of shooting the cats, he shot the breeze with Cowdery while the original officer and her colleague wrangled them in the garage.
Kling calmed Cowdery to the sounds of hissing cats bounding off the walls and scurrying up the rafters.
"The man was frustrated," Kling said. "This was a misunderstanding that didn't need to rise to this level," Kling said.
Kling said the public should call his office immediately if they have an animal-control problem.
The city responds to between 75 and 90 calls on a busy day, he said. Officers are often out in the field, while rankled residents wonder why their animal problems are unabated.
Kling shook hands with Cowdery and then left with his two officers and the six cats. Cowdery chatted with a neighbor in the front yard under a tree.
About 20 feet up, a gray and white cat snuggled into the crook of a knotted branch.
To report animal-control problems in the city, call (909) 820-2550 or (909) 820-2555
josh.dulaney@inlandnewspapers.com
Leave a comment