Rules for Thee, Cats for Me: Have feral cats and personal priorities gotten in the way of progress at Fort Clark Springs?

 Love them, hate them, or sneeze when near them, people generally seem to have an opinion about cats, one way or another. Regardless of your feelings about felines, however, feral cat populations can quickly become a significant problem for communities. According to Houston’s Citizens for Animal Protection, 2 cats can multiply exponentially in 5 years of uncontrolled reproduction and amount to over 12,000 cats. 

 You don’t have to look far in Kinney County to see these as plausible numbers, but a local organization, Wandering Cats, has been busy clipping ears and more to curtail the colonies. 

  A registered 501(c)3, Wandering Cats’ mission is to empower the community to care for their animals by reducing overpopulation & improving the lives of feral and free roaming cats in Kinney County, TX through public education & TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return ). This year, their 3rd annual golf tournament held at Fort Clark Springs, raised over $10,000 which helps with vet bills ranging anywhere from $300-$600 each time for just spays and neuters, according to a Facebook post by the organization. 

  The evidence surrounding the effectiveness of TNR programs is conflicting, with the American Bird Conservancy believing they are not an effective tool to reduce feral cat populations, and in fact may have the opposite effect of attracting more feral cats to gather in these attractive cat safe-havens, increasing reproduction rates, while allowing the further spread of disease and damage to wildlife and bird populations, as most programs do not have the resources to spay and neuter enough cats quickly enough to affect population numbers. 

  Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has also spoken out against TNR Programs, stating “Feral (non-owned) and free-roaming cats pose a direct threat to the health of our natural resources. Feral cat colonies negatively impact songbirds, small mammals, amphibians, and other native wildlife populations. Feeding programs are not recommended because they concentrate cats and wild animals into single areas, which can increase disease transmission and pose greater threats to native wildlife in the area. Neither intentional feeding of free-roaming cats or the sanctioning of managed cat colonies addresses ecological, animal health, or public health concerns, nor does it address population control.” https://tpwd.texas.gov/wildlife/birding/bird-city-texas/tpwdferalcatbriefingpaper.pdf 

  By contrast, TNR advocates suggest TNR is the humane way to address public concerns about feral cat overpopulation, which seems hard to argue, in and of itself. The issue has actually seen some heated debate over the years, and in 2023 Gov. Abbott signed a bill into law giving protection to TNR efforts that release sterilized cats back into the wild, or abandon them into communities, depending on the position. Texas Tribune gives some more insight into this recent legislative effort here: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/13/texas-trap-neuter-release-bill-cats/ 

  Regardless of which side you favor, Wandering Cats has no doubt made an impact on the local community, especially in the absence of other animal control efforts. Volunteers have worked tirelessly to help support this feline friendly work, and individuals, as well as businesses, have stepped in to donate towards the hard work that goes into trapping, neutering, and releasing feral cats in Fort Clark Springs and Brackettville. 

   At the helm of this successful non-profit startup is local mother-daughter duo, Lisa Vale and Megan Vale Carter. No one would deny that the Vale team deserves significant thanks and praise for these cat-catching efforts, but reasonable concerns and complaints have been made concerning the obvious overlap of professional efforts, as numerous cats have seemingly taken up residence in the newly “rebranded” Creekside Clubhouse. 

   General Manager Charlena Cavender has tried to make strides in renovation efforts to promote the FCS golf pro-shop as a rentable venue, and a newly hired and enthusiastic Manager-in-training (supervised by Megan Vale Carter) has been working to promote new offerings to attract more members and guests in support of food and entertainment offerings at the Pro Shop. This comes after the FCSA Board set a 1 year goal to open the “Creekside Restaurant” by May 2024, amongst other things, in their Vision/Traction Organizer (pictured right). 

   While a noble and reasonable goal, it’s obviously going to take more time to reach, even without cats in the kitchen, but that certainly doesn’t help. Charlena Cavender was hired as General Manager of FCSA in March 2024, after many months of Lisa Vale serving as both President of the FCSA Board of Directors and acting General Manager, with the younger Vale being hired during that time as Manager of the ProShop. At some point under the Vale leadership, there was discussion, and thankfully a decline, of the request to install some form of unmanned access for cats to enter the building as they please, but as of this past Sunday’s NFL Game Night at the Clubhouse, cat food, animal beds, and at least 2 cats were obviously very comfortable inside the FCSA facility. 

   Aside from the obvious health and sanitation risks of having feral cats roaming amongst retail food offerings, many members and guests have cited cat allergies, or simply aversions to having cats in the clubhouse, and have questioned to what extent professionalism has been compromised given the potential conflict of interest for Lisa Vale, daughter Megan, and the cats wandering within Fort Clark Springs Association’s  building and leadership.   

 With new efforts being made to promote the space and retail offerings at the Golf Course and Clubhouse, it seems reasonable to allow new management a cat-free playing field, or clubhouse in this case, for a better chance at success. The furry situation also begs the question of what other goals and projects have been delayed due to personal or purring priorities. 

Hopefully, the cats are the only conflict. 

  We look forward to visiting the creekside clubhouse again soon, and hope to find a more reasonable release and relocation of the local trapped and neutered felines. We are encouraged by the enthusiasm of new management by the creek, and hope folks will continue to support the FCSA Golf Club, Clubhouse, and Wandering Cats as they feel inclined, but maybe not under the same roof. 

The FCSA Election Committee is actively seeking candidates to run for two open Board of Directors seats in the 2025 election. Candidate Data sheets can be found in the cathouse Clubhouse, FCSA Admin office and the gym. Nominate yourself or someone else today!