Irresponsible pet owners and kind-hearted pet lovers are being blamed for a cat population explosion at a
local rest area.
The rest stop on northbound Interstate 75, just south of Bowling Green, has become home to 20 to 30 feral
felines.
According to Tina Perkins, administrative assistant to the deputy director of the ODOT office in Bowling
Green, several cats have been abandoned there over the years by travelers. The problem has grown worse,
she said, because employees at the rest area and motorists passing through have fed the cats.
"The population has kind of exploded," Perkins said, noting that no one knows exactly how many
cats call the rest stop home. "They are kind of hard to count."
After ODOT heard from a concerned motorist, a notice was sent to rest area employees ordering them to
stop feeding the cats.
"We want to take into account the health and safety of everyone," she said.
However, the public appears to keep feeding the felines.
So ODOT officials contacted the Wood County Humane Society about trapping the cats and finding homes for
them. So far, about 15 have been captured and taken to a private animal rescue facility in the Sandusky
area.
Kay Chapman, of the humane society, said ODOT is reacting responsibly to an unfortunate situation.
"They stepped up to the problem caused by irresponsible people who have dumped them out there,"
Chapman said.
Several cats are still roaming free at the rest area, including two which are pregnant, according to
Chapman.
The goal is to capture all the cats, spay or neuter them, then find homes for them.
"We’re asking for barn homes, cause a lot of them are feral," she said.
To take care of all the felines, the humane society is asking for assistance from local residents.
"We need the public’s help to do it," Chapman said. "We need the farm homes, the traps and
the spay-neuter money."
Anyone wanting to help may call the Wood County Humane Society at (419) 352-7339.
"The only other option is to euthanize them – which we don’t want to do," Chapman said.