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LAKEPORT, Calif. – Everyone has seen them – and many have fed them – but community members learned at a presentation last Friday the depth and scope of the feral and unowned cat problem in Lake County.
The startling truth: Lake County euthanizes more cats per capita than any other county in the state.
“We knew it was a big problem,” said Lake County Animal Care and Control Director Bill Davidson, “but after this, we began realizing just how big the problem was.”
The June 24 presentation was given by Dr. Richard Bachman, DVM, director of Veterinary Services for Contra Costa County and owner/operator of Shelter Medicine Support, a veterinary consulting and services group.
Nearly 30 community members were in attendance to learn steps that Lake County can take to address the estimated 11,000 free-roaming cats, which will help protect the estimated 11,900 owned cats here.
“Control of community cats is one of the most controversial issues in animal welfare,” Bachman said.
Bachman came to Lake County recently to visit the county's shelter facility on Helbush Drive in Lakeport and evaluate the possibility that the department could sustain an in-house medical program to help change the statistics on euthanasia.
In Lake County, the euthanasia rate of cats and dogs is 44.7 per 1,000 human population – placing the county at No. 1 statewide.
The euthanasia rate for cats alone in Lake County is 37.2 per 1,000, while the state average is 11.5 per 1,000.
Rates in neighboring counties are much lower. Napa and Mendocino counties are at 10.2 and 9.9 respectively, with Sonoma at 14.0, according to Bachman.
“In most communities, there are feral cats,” said Bachman.
He described ferals as cats that take care of themselves and do not seek human assistance, as well as “community cats” – or cats that go house to house begging for scraps, but who are not owned, nor taken to a veterinarian for shots or sterilization by anyone.
“Fifty percent of the feeders of community cats do not own cats themselves,” he said.
Cats are the only animal species that have domesticated themselves, Bachman stated, “and they began doing so over 10,000 years ago.”
Physiologically, cats have “obligatory ovulation,” meaning a cat will stay in heat and able to conceive kittens until it breeds, giving them, “an average of 1.4 litters … of three kittens … per year,” Bachman explained.
“In the United States, there are 82 to 88 million owned cats,” Bachman said.
Of those owned cats, Bachman said 80 to 85 percent are sterilized. However, there also are 80 to 90 million community cats, with the same number born each year. “So you see the problem,” he said.
The bottom line, Bachman explained, is that euthanizing and disposing of animals is expensive – and not what a community wants to be known for doing.
Nonlethal control of unwanted pet populations must be, “of adequate scale to manage the size of the unknown at population, safe for the environment, affordable, sustainable, and acceptable to the public,” Bachman explained.
At shelters, truly feral cats that are brought in are often euthanized as “unhealthy” under the “Asilomar Accords.”
The accords were devised in August of 2004, when a group of animal welfare industry leaders from across the nation convened at Asilomar in Pacific Grove, Calif., to focus on significantly reducing the euthanasia of healthy and treatable companion animals in the United States, Bachman said.
However, many times, “Princess” – a well-loved cat now under stress – also is brought in to a shelter and labeled “feral,” then euthanized, according to Bachman, who suggested that nonlethal measures and programs be established.
Bachman outlined several successful models of “TNR” (trap, neuter and return/release), combined with vaccinating for rabies and “tipping” the cats' ear so they can be easily identified as sterile. He noted studies that showed a decrease in community cat populations when such models are used.
“Live release is a morale booster for shelter staff and the community,” Bachman said, “because you are not killing cats.”
Given the size of the problem in Lake County, and that “cat season” is well under way once again, Davidson asked Bachman, “Where do we begin?”
Davidson said this week that one of his next steps is to pursue grant funding for spaying and neutering feral cats.
He said every veterinarian he's spoken to around the county has agreed to do low-cost spaying and neutering for feral cats in support of an effort to address the problem.
In addition, a quarter of the people who have brought feral cats in have indicated that they would keep the animals if there were low-cost services available, he said.
Trap and release programs, such as Bachman discussed, need to have someone who is willing to oversee a cat colony with a place to do it. Davidson said grants could help fund such efforts.
E-mail Terre Logsdon at
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A barbecue cookoff, musical entertainment by the LC Diamonds, children’s activities, a car show and a “washer tournament” will highlight this year’s “Grillin’ on the Green” fundraiser scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 6.
The event will take place from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Westside Community Park, 1401 Westside Park Road.
The public is invited to attend and participate in the festivities, including the barbecue competition, the Westside Community Park fundraising committee has announced.
Proceeds go toward developing Westside Community Park.
In 2009, the Westside Community Park was awarded a $200,000 grant. The grant has assisted the Park Committee in the Phase II development, which must be completed by November 2011.
Phase II is a six-acre development with three soccer fields, one regulation baseball field, and one combination Little League/softball field. The estimated cost of Phase II is $335,000.
Westside Community Park is a city of Lakeport recreational facility that was established 12 years ago. The nonprofit Park Committee is developing the park in conjunction with the city of Lakeport, volunteers, and numerous contributions by individuals and businesses dedicated to constructing a recreational facility for the youth and adults of Lake County.
The park currently is four acres consisting of two soccer fields, a parking lot, a picnic area overlooking the soccer fields, and an ADA compliant walking path.
Future plans for development of the park’s full 60 acres include baseball/softball fields, a BMX track, a skateboard facility, football fields, a children’s play structure, a dog park, walking paths, and a horse arena.
“It will truly be a beautiful addition to Lake County and a much needed recreational facility for families, groups, and leagues,” said Dennis Rollins, chair of the Westside Community Park Committee.
Individuals and groups, from backyard barbecuers to professional grillers, have an opportunity to compete in the cookoff. There is no entry fee.
Each contestant is required to provide his/her own setup and samples of the chef’s “grillin’” specialty for 300 people. The competition will culminate in a presentation of the People’s Choice Awards. Deadline for submission of cook-off entry forms is July 15.
Ticket prices for the event are $25 per adult, $10 per child 12 years old or younger, and no charge for children 2 years old or younger. Tickets may be purchased in advance at Lake County Chamber of Commerce, Lake Event Design, and the Kitchen Gallery, all in Lakeport, and the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce in Clearlake.
Tickets are also available from members of the fundraising committee. They are Dennis Rollins, Cindy Ustrud, Alice Holmes, Wilda Shock, Cindy Engstrom, Mary Ann Larrea, and Beth and Jeff Havrilla.
For cookoff entry forms or additional information about the event and the barbecue competition, contact Ustrud, 707-263-7091, or Rollins, 707-349-0969.
Information about the event and photos of last year’s event can be found on the park’s Web site, www.westsidecommunitypark.org.
The Park Committee also is seeking sponsorships for this year’s event, says Ustrud. This year’s major sponsors are the Keeling-Barnes Family Foundation, which is pledging matching funds up to $5,000, and BiCoastal Media.
Levels of sponsor recognition are $100, $300, $500, $1,000, $3,000 and $5,000. Sponsors will be recognized at the Grillin’ on the Green event.
All proceeds from the event will benefit the next phase of development of Westside Community Park.
Funds raised by the Lakeport Kiwanis Club’s “Washer Tournament” will also benefit the park. Teams will compete for cash and non-cash prizes. The tournament entry fee is $40 per team.
For registration information and entry forms, visit the Kiwanis Web site at http://kiwanislakeport.org.
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LUCERNE, Calif. – After 39 years as a fire chief, Jim Robbins is preparing for his retirement.
Robbins, 59, is marking his last official day on the job as Northshore Fire chief on Thursday, but he said this week that, with the final selection of his successor still a few weeks out, he'll remain on the job long enough to help get the new chief settled.
“It's not that I really want to walk away from it, it's just that I feel that it's time,” Robbins said Wednesday of his plans to retire.
He's been on the job a long time.
At the age of 20, Robbins became the chief of the Lucerne Fire Department. In 2003, he became chief of the Northshore Fire Joint Powers Agreement, and was appointed chief of the newly formed Northshore Fire Protection District in November 2006.
He oversees a department with a $2.8 million annual budget, drawing its revenues from property tax, a fire fee and money generated from ambulance services.
The district has 17 paid employees and 58 volunteers covering seven stations, three of which – Lucerne, Clearlake Oaks and Nice – are manned around the clock, seven days a week, in order to serve one of the state's largest fire districts, covering more than 350 square miles.
“I've surrounded myself with good administrative staff, so it works out real well,” he said.
No matter the size of a department, Robbins said there are always challenges. “The people that we've hired are up for the challenge and want to help people, and I'm very proud of that part of it.”
Robbins has spent most of his life in Lake County, moving here with his family when he was about 12 years old.
He credits his mother with spurring his interest in firefighting.
While they still lived in San Francisco's Sunset District, he remembered that when fire engines would go down the street, his mother would chase them to see where they were going. “So that's kinda how I got my start.”
He would find himself actively getting involved in firefighting just a few years later.
When he was 15 and living in Lucerne, he and a friend watched local firefighters prepare for a Thursday night fire drill at a local wrecking yard.
He remembered the firefighters setting up an old car that would be set on fire, and putting a dummy in the front seat that firefighters were supposed to remove after they had extinguished the fire.
After the fire chief set up the car and left, “Being kids, we decided we were going to help them out a little bit,” said Robbins, explaining that he and his friend then wired the dummy into the car.
Later, they watched firefighters arrive and try to get the dummy out of the car after putting out the fire. He said the chief looked at them and, said, “So you boys want to be firemen, don't you?”
The young Robbins and his friend were invited to help roll up hose, and after being told they did a good job, they were invited to the station for the next meeting, at which time the chief said they needed to start a junior fire department.
That was in 1967, and during the next several years Robbins would work his way up through the ranks – from engineer to captain and deputy chief before receiving the chief's job at age 20.
In the years since then, he's watched the community grow, seen needs increase and the witnessed requirements for firefighters change significantly.
Today, volunteers must complete 240 hours of training annually, as much as paid personnel, as well as completing continuing education, he explained.
“The demand on them any more is really tough,” he said.
One of the most memorable incidents of his tenure was the August 1996 Fork Fire in the Mendocino National Forest.
At nearly 83,000 acres, the fire is still ranked among the largest in United States history. Robbins, who has traveled with strike teams to battle blazes around California, said he believes it was the largest fire he'd ever fought.
The cause of the fire was attributed to an unattended campfire in White Buck Canyon, at the base of Elk Mountain. Robbins said four homes and numerous outbuildings were destroyed by the fire, which he personally was on for 13 days.
Robbins said the fire was “crazy,” and recounted how it created its own wind as it raced through the wildland.
“It almost sounds like a freight train coming down a track toward you. It just rumbles as it gets closer,” he said, adding, “I didn't think I was ever gonna see my kids again after that one.”
Firefighters came from around California to help fight the Fork Fire, which Robbins remembered at one point jumped over firefighters in a “flashover.” Good safety plans, he added, helped firefighters survive it.
Robbins said the firefighters had been proud of their ability to save numerous older buildings that had been part of the Bartlett Springs Resort from the Fork Fire.
He said one of his biggest disappointments was seeing many of those same buildings destroyed by an arsonist in 2007. But Northshore Fire's efforts helped lead to the arrest and prosecution of Norman Henderson, who later was sentenced to 24 years in state prison for the serial arsons.
Time for transition
Since Robbins announced his retirement earlier this year, the Northshore Fire Protection District Board of Directors has been working to find the district's new chief.
“I think it's time for someone younger to come in and build a future for themselves and be progressive,” he said.
Robbins said he has not been involved in the hiring process, choosing to step back and allow the district to make its choice. “They've basically handled it to this point.”
He said three top candidates have been chosen and are now going through background checks. A final selection is expected within a few weeks.
Although June 30 was his planned retirement date, “I've agreed to stay on just a little longer,” said Robbins, adding that he will help with the new chief's transition in order to make it a smooth one.
Once that's completed, Robbins will start his next chapter.
“I have a lot of things that I'd like to see and do,” he said.
A retirement party is being held for Robbins on July 23 at the Clearlake Oaks Moose Lodge, located at the intersection of Highways 20 and 53. Hospitality will start at 3 p.m. with dinner at 5:30 p.m., and presentations and desserts at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets are $20 each and can be purchased from any member of Northshore Fire's personnel.
Robbins said he plans to stay in Lucerne in retirement.
His wife, Leah, is a captain/paramedic with Northshore Fire, and his mother lives on a ranch above town where he plans to help do some farming.
In addition, there are plans for fishing and, he added, “My wife's got a list of things for me to do.”
Looking back on his work with the fire department, Robbins said, “I just hope that I left it better than I found it.”
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
Caltrans said Wednesday that the project will include the installation of flashing beacons at the intersection of Highway 29 and Hartmann Road near Hidden Valley Lake.
The flashing beacons are intended to warn motorists traveling along Highway 29 when vehicles are on Hartmann Road waiting to enter the highway, and when vehicles on southbound Highway 29 are waiting to turn left onto Hartmann Road, Caltrans reported.
The intersection was the site last week of a collision that killed a Clearlake woman, and a Rodeo woman died as the result of injuries she suffered in a crash there over the 2010 Memorial Day weekend, as Lake County News has reported.
Both of the women who died were in vehicles attempting to turn onto Highway 29 from Hartmann Road, based on California Highway Patrol reports.
Caltrans said traffic actuated flashing beacons have been installed at other locations in the agency's District 1 – which covers the North Coast – and have proven to be effective.
Work on this approximately $290,000 project will be performed in two stages with a brief break in between, Caltran said.
Stage one, which will take about two weeks, will consist of repairing metal beam guardrail, installing
electrical conduit, and installing the traffic sensor loops. When this stage is complete Caltrans said Pacific Gas & Electric will be notified to connect power.
After PG&E connects power, stage two will begin, Caltrans said. Stage two, which will take about two weeks, will install the actual flashing beacon system.
The agency said the project should be completed by the end of August.
Current work will be performed under a shoulder closure, and Caltrans advised motorists to drive with caution through the area and may experience minor traffic slowdowns.
Future work will require one-way traffic control, and Caltrans said motorists should anticipate 10-minute delays.
The contractor is GBA Engineering of Fullerton, Caltrans said.
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The quake occurred at 4:13 a.m., according to the US Geological Survey.
Survey records showed that the quake was centered two miles south southwest of Anderson Springs, five miles west of Middletown and six miles west of Cobb, at a depth of 1.2 miles.
The US Geological Survey received 13 shake reports from six zip codes – Hidden Valley Lake, Middletown, Healdsburg, Elk, Santa Rosa and San Francisco.
A 3.0-magnitude quake occurred three miles southwest of Anderson Springs on June 24, according to US Geological Survey records. That quake received 11 shake reports from around the North Coast and the Bay Area, but not from within Lake County.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
The plan, in effect, would merge commands that the Army, Navy and Air Force have run with separate staffs and resources for decades.
Two of three surgeons general, for Air Force and Navy, oppose the move and hope senators will reject it when preparing their own version of the fiscal 2012 defense authorization bill, and then again when House-Senate conferees meet to negotiate away any differences between the two bills.
The plan to restructure military medicine, which the Army and Navy had embraced five years ago, assumes cost savings of $460 million a year by ending duplication of effort and staff redundancies across the services.
But Lt. Gen. Charles B. Green, Air Force surgeon general, said his service continues to oppose a unified command, in part because it disagrees the restructuring will save money.
“We believe a more effective and efficient joint medical solution can be attained without the expense of establishing a unified medical command,” Green said. “Changes to doctrine can be made within current authorities and do not require a new unified medical command.”
The Navy no longer supports medical command consolidation, at least not now. Vice Adm. Adam M. Robinson, Jr., Navy surgeon general, warned “there is currently no joint construct or doctrine to permit the seamless and safe care for our service members and their families” under a unified command.
But Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, Army surgeon general and commanding general of Army Medical Command, finds “merit in considering the most effective and efficient command structures to support the strategic goals of the military health system, the services and the combatant commanders.”
Under the House bill, the unified medical command would be a major combatant command similar to U.S. Special Operations Forces Command (SOCOM), and reporting directly to the secretary of defense.
The four-star officer selected to run it would be given unprecedented authority over medical staffing, training, purchasing, operations and readiness, just as SOCOM is responsible for all aspects of combined special forces.
Medical personnel still would be trained for service-unique missions in the culture of parent services. But overall medical training, assignments, procurement and operational support would be centrally controlled.
The unified command would oversee three subordinate commands led by three-star officers. One would be responsible for all fixed military treatment facilities. A second would run all medical training and education plus research and development.
The plan is silent on functions such as logistics and information technology, allowing the department to organize those as it deems fit.
A third subordinate command, called the Defense Health Agency, would assume all functions now performed by the TRICARE Management Activity including the multibillion dollar TRICARE support contracts that support vast networks of civilian health care providers to deliver a triple health care option to family members and retirees.
The House directs the secretary of defense to present details for implementing these changes to defense committees by July 1, 2012.
In 2006, while Donald Rumsfeld was defense secretary, the department came near to recommending a similar restructuring plan to Congress. But it was vigorously opposed by the Air Force.
Military Update asked each current surgeon general his views on the unified command plan the House passed in HR 1540 (Section 711).
Green said the Air Force recognizes that service and joint medical doctrine “must be improved to assure service capabilities are fully interoperable and interdependent to bolster unity of effort. The services should continue integrating common medical platforms to reduce redundancy and lower costs.”
But a unified medical command might “not achieve the intended synergy or unity of effort,” Green said. No unified command model so far has included funds or oversight of “medical forces intrinsic to service line units.”
Because “line-funded” medical personnel represent 48 percent of Army medics, 25 percent of Navy medics but only 5 percent of Air Force medics, Green worries Air Force’s “ability to meet operational medical requirements would be disproportionately compromised” under a unified command.
Also, Greed said, a unified command “will require new systems and structure to oversee component headquarters and assigned forces. This will drive even higher costs. If a unified medical command follows the example of the current JTF CAPMED (Joint Task Force, National Capitol Region Medical), it is highly unlikely there will be cost savings.”
A unified command, he suggested, would create a “fourth” military medical service “without the discipline and historical rule sets that govern existing services” and that too will “likely drive costs much higher. Even more critical, a unified medical command may not be as responsive to the needs of service war fighters as is the current oversight by the services.”
Robinson argued the medical community “is already highly integrated” with Army, Navy and Air Force working “seamlessly to care for patients from battlefield to bedside. If we were to create a new unified command, it would require extensive study on how it would be best implemented so that we don't jeopardize our current capability or add excessive cost to the system.”
But Schoomaker, for Army, noted that “numerous” past studies have endorsed a unified medical command to improve the health of the force and to reduce redundancies. “Like all major organizational transformation efforts, however, the devil resides in the details,” he said.
“Army Medicine recognizes the merit inherent in these efforts, providing that the continuum of care remains fully integrated,” he said.
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