CUMBERLAND — Richard Pravlik said he’s an investor who works to improve houses in the city, but feral felines and other problems are destroying the area.
“The cat population … expands every year,” he said of roughy 50 strays near his Race Street home.
“This year we had seven litters.”
The wild cats roll around on his deck, defecate in flower beds and make the area smell bad.
“It reeks of cat feces and urine … nobody should live like that,” Pravlik said. “As a city we’re ignoring the problem and it’s just getting worse.”
He spoke of other trouble that comes from “the old Gallagher building” across the street from his home.
“It’s been a swamp all summer,” Pravlik said of the flooded structure, adding that properties he rehabilitates are threatened by feral cats and blight. “How can I rent them?”
Pam Reynolds, of Fayette Street, said a rabid cat in her area a few weeks ago caused roughly eight people to undergo rabies treatments. A resident of the area puts food outside for the animals, she said.
“It’s not just cats that come,” Reynolds said of skunks and raccoons that arrive to eat.
Cumberland Mayor Ray Morriss said people should report to city officials anyone who provides food for wild animals.
“It’s illegal to feed the cats,” he said. “We’ll deal with Animal Control to get to the root of the problem.”
However, Cumberland Administrator Jeff Silka told the mayor that Animal Control is an Allegany County, not city, agency. He advised folks to alert the city’s codes department of animals causing problems around a house.
“We can cite the owner,” Silka said. “Give the codes department the addresses … we can address it that way (because) we don’t do Animal Control.”
Cats and skunks aren’t the only wild critters causing problems. Deer have gotten used to being fed in the Dingle neighborhood, city resident Frank Clark said.
In addition to eating flowers, plants and trees in residential yards, deer can drop ticks that transmit Lyme disease to people.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources warns that “feeding a single wild animal can quickly lead to having many at your doorstep.
Ultimately, that can harm habitat, people, and the animals themselves.
“Because of their close contact, animals crowding at feeding sites can readily exchange diseases,” DNR’s website states. “More animals die from disease and disease-related ailments than from starvation.”