Here, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty -- yikes!

July 21, 2008

Posted by Gail Marshall on
July 21, 2008 7:03 AM

Did you see Denny Boyles' story in The Bee about the huge feral cat colony at the former Hacienda motel that's being managed by the folks from Mental Health Systems Inc.? They are trying to transform the place into a housing and treatment center for women but taking care of the cats has become a fulltime job. They were taking in 18 a day at the beginning. Holy catnip. Wow. The things they don't teach you in management school.

While I'm sure nobody gets a case study like this one at Wharton,the care taken in supervising this problem says a lot about the management team that's coming into this neighborhood. Instead of trapping the cats and taking them to the SPCA, where they most likely wouldn't live too long, this group of folks has studied up on the science of feral cat colonies, is getting the animals spayed or neutered, adopting them out and letting the rest live on the premises taking care of any mice or rats.

I like what that says about the company and Jenny Bates, regional manager for MHS, who is overseeing the project. Though she's a dog person, she sought advice from the area's premier cat lady, Lynnea Lattanzio, who founded Cat House on the Kings in Parlier. Together, they devised the strategy. Now my mind works this way: If they take this much time and care with wild cats, how much more will they bring to the lives of the troubled human beings who will soon arrive? No telling for sure, but I'm just sayin' it's looking promising.

The story says that workers are now renovating three buildings to house residents in the Fresno First program, which will offer substance abuse treatment and housing to women released from prison. The first(human) residents are expected to move to the Hacienda from elsewhere in Fresno in September. Sounds like everyone will get a pet right away.