Glassboro Council addresses stray cat concerns

Though briefer than usual, townspeople gathered at the Glassboro Municipal Building for the borough’s first council meeting of the month this past Tuesday night.

With no new or unfinished business to attend to, as well as quickly approving two resolutions regarding the authorization of a shared spaces agreement as well as the execution of a redevelopment agreement, the meeting seemed to be quite uneventful. Once the public portion of the meeting opened, however, Glassboro residents voiced their concerns over an unusually growing population of stray cats in various Gloucester County neighborhoods.

The Glassboro Council meeting, held twice a month, allows citizens of the community to voice their concerns on issues not listed on the meeting agenda. This typically occurs once the council members open the public portion following a first and second motion from two sitting council members. 

At Tuesday evening’s public portion, the community heard from Nancy Polhamus, a resident of Glassboro. 

”We’re having a serious issue with stray cats reproducing rapidly. There’s a new set of kittens in my yard, some in my neighbor’s yard, and some living under the porch down the street,” said Polhamus.

With a growing number of stray cats within her neighborhood on Franklin Road, she had no choice but to turn to Gloucester County’s Animal Control Services, though they were allegedly not much help to her.

“They say they don’t handle cats. These cats are unhealthy, hungry, and unvaccinated. Some may be sick or covered in fleas and ticks. It’s heartbreaking,” said Polhamus.

Polhamus suspects that the issue originated from the end of the spring semester when students who’d moved off campus left a cat behind. She even informed the council about one of her neighbors who had a cat neutered at their own expense. But Polhamus believes the efforts aren’t sustainable, expressing deep concern for the safety of the neighborhood and urging council members to help find a solution.  

Polhamus wasn’t the only one to address concerns about feline sightings. Lamont and Valerie Wilkinson, both retired residents of Glassboro, addressed similar issues within their part of the neighborhood on Harding Avenue. The couple, who have lived in Glassboro for a few years now, shared their experience with stray cats in their yard.

“They’ll sit there at the end of the driveway, and our yorkie, Koji, will bark at them. We tell ’em’ to get back or those cats will mess you up,” said Lamont Wilkinson.

Lamont Wilkinson noted that the stray cats are malnourished, yet still rather big and healthy looking, and is unsure of whether or not these cats carry rabies or other kinds of diseases due to being unvaccinated. He also reflected on how trapping the stray cats through Gloucester County’s Animal Control Services has created new problems.

“They bothered me less after I called animal control a few times. They came and trapped them, but then my mother ended up with mice. I think I disturbed the balance of the ecology there,” said Wilkinson.

Their concerns were taken into consideration by the council members, who affirmed that the borough would look into possible solutions to the issue.

“We’ll do some research to try to address the issue, because I agree none of us would want to be dealing with this,” said Glassboro Mayor John E. Wallace III.

The next Glassboro council meeting will be held at the Glassboro Municipal Building on Tuesday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m.