Some of you may or may not have noticed that Lake Land College’s (LLC) campus grounds have become home to some cute, but uninvited guests. Feral cats have recently been found all across LLC’s campus and, although adorable, can have a negative environmental impact on wildlife in the surrounding area, as well as pose a risk for people, as the cats are currently unvaccinated and unsocialized.
Sarah Housh, a Liberal Arts major here at LLC, was eager to make a difference on campus for both students and staff, as well as the unwelcomed cats. She designed a club and project dedicated to solving the ongoing issue of feral cats across campus. Housh, originally from California, shares her story and why she believes that this is a valuable project for both the cats and overall college campus. When Housh was 19, she established a non-profit organization in Pana, Illinois, which she called the “Pana Feral Cat Coalition.” She mentions that she was able to help with the spaying and neutering of about 32 feral cats in the Pana area. Then, when hearing about the feral cats that currently wander around LLC’s campus, she wanted to take a step in leadership in order to see a change.
“Ideally what we’d like to do is to trap all of the cats that are on campus. . . They’re pretty elusive, but we would trap as many as we can,” Housh states. “We have actually partnered with Albin Animal Hospital here in town, as they agreed to offer us discounted services. So, we’d spay and neuter the cats, vaccinate them for rabies and then bring them back to campus and return them so that they can live out the rest of their happy, little lives.” Housh also mentions that, although some would suggest to simply relocate the cats, there are certain Illinois laws in place that make it illegal to do so.
Sadly, Housh’s proposed Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) plan as a solution to the cat problem was short lived, as the project and club idea were denied by LLC’s Student Life office. Although the original project and club were turned down, the ongoing feral cat issue remains. These feral cats are running around campus unvaccinated, which poses a risk for people and the campus environment. Rabies and other diseases from unvaccinated cats can be passed to humans, particularly to students on campus who encounter one of these cats and are unaware of the cats being potentially dangerous. Therefore, Housh brings up a valid and important point when saying that these cats need to be dealt with. Perhaps Student Life can work on another solution for the safety of LLC’s students, faculty and campus as a whole.
Housh encourages students that may encounter one of the cats around campus to “. . . appreciate them from a distance. Even though they’re feral, they’re still considered domestic cats and so they still deserve quality care. They deserve to be loved from a distance since they are not socialized.” We love to see students, like Housh, taking initiative and getting involved in campus with causes that are important to them, even in the face of obstacles and disappointment.
