Cats look for homes as prison shuts farm
Wyoming SPCA braces for burden
The 253 head of cattle were given to a college. Most of the 282 acres of farmland will be leased to the highest bidder this spring. But what will happen to the barn cats — possibly more than 100—at the Wyoming Correctional Facility’s farm, outside Attica?
Correction officers, civilians and inmates who worked at the farm had befriended the felines over the years.
Now that the farm is closing, the Wyoming County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is bracing for a population explosion.
To save an expected $3.4 million annually, the state Department of Correctional Services is shutting down a dozen prison farms across the state. The farm system had provided a vocation, as well as sustenance, for inmates.
“The main reason was the cost of having to provide security,” said Erik Kriss, a department spokesman.
The farms are located outside the prisons’ secure perimeters, and the anticipated savings include eliminating 39 correction officer jobs through attrition.
The Wyoming farm’s herd — 127 milk cows, 121 heifers and five bull calves — was given to Alfred State College, which has a 750-acre farm for its agriculture and veterinary programs.
The state hopes to lease 247 of the 282 acres of farmland; some of the property is considered too close to the medium-security prison.
And what about all those barn cats?
“We are working with the SPCA,” Kriss said. “Together, we are going to try to basically collect cats and take them to the SPCA.”
The Wyoming County SPCA last week received a tip from someone concerned about the cats, and put their number at more than 100.
“While closing the farm at Wyoming Correctional, the state is abandoning over 100 cats and kittens which were cared for by the inmates for years. The people in charge do not care what happens to these animals, as they will be left to fend for themselves,” the tipster stated. “Is this animal abuse by the state?”
Yes, it is, said Susan Davila, shelter manager.
“It’s considered abandonment,” she said.
“When I read this e-mail I actually felt physically ill,” Davila said. “I have no idea what I would do with over 100 cats and kittens.”
Ironically, the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, under whose laws animal abuse cases are prosecuted, is helping decommission the prison farms.
A department spokeswoman said she would look into the cats issue.
At the Wyoming County SPCA, a no-kill shelter, the feline population already exceeds 300.
But Davila plans to accommodate more, if necessary.
The prison farm’s burgeoning cat population came to the shelter’s attention three or four years ago, Davila said.
“Employees were bringing us cats and kittens — the ones they could catch,” she said.
Davila has received permission to enter the property to size up the situation for herself.
“They are going to allow me to go on the property over the weekend to feed them,” she added.
“I’m going to have to put a plan together,” Davila said.
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