The Animal Welfare Board discussed the possibility of using a feral cat colony to control the Evanston rat population in a meeting Wednesday night.

The meeting, held at the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center, focused on a feral cat program proposed by Evanston City Health & Human Services. Under the program, the city would release colonies of cats into specific Evanston neighborhoods to target rodents.

Evanston aldermen began discussing the possibility of such a program after the success of the Chicago’s Cats at Work Program, which is run through the Tree House Humane Society. The program removes feral cats from potentially life-threatening situations and moves them to other areas, in the hopes they will help mitigate rodents.

Animal Welfare Board Chair Meredith Rives said discussions about the Evanston program are just starting. Rives said the cat colonies will have assigned caregivers to ensure the wellbeing of the cats. She said the idea is that volunteers care for the cats in “exchange for the cats’ natural ability” to abate rats.

The program may be carried out specifically in areas with higher number of rodent complaints from residents, Rives said.

“My role in this will be to (get) assurance that the cats will be well-cared for and that the cats’ caregivers are (going to be) well trained” said Rives. “The people who are participating in the program as caretakers have to be responsible for the wellbeing of the colonies.”

Later this year, Rives plans to further discuss the Board’s role in the potential program with Evanston’s Public Health Manager Ike Ogbo.

The Board agreed the discussion must include outlining what role the Board and the shelter would play in the program.

“The welfare of the cats will be the responsibility of Animal Welfare Board,” said Diane Valletta, a member of the Board.

Valletta supported the program, saying it is a “fabulous idea.” Several board members also said they were in favor of of the possible program.

“I think it has a tremendous potential be a success in the city,” said Rives.

The meeting also reviewed the Evanston Animal Shelter Association’s performance in dealing with Evanston’s stray cats and dogs following the Board’s implementation of its new ‘no-kill’ philosophy. Only 10 of the 447 dogs and cats taken in by EASA this year have been euthanized.

“Almost all of the 10 euthanized animals were put down for health problems,” said Jill Cabot, vice chair of Animal Welfare Board.

Cabot said the numbers are encouraging.

“There is nobody else in the area that is doing quite the same,” said Rives. “It feels like we are making a big difference.”

Email: [email protected]

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the number of animals taken in by the Evanston Animal Shelter as well as the amount that were euthanized. The shelter took in 447 year to date, and has euthanized 10 of them in that time. The article also stated the feral cat program would involve the cats killing rats. The cats would scare them away. They would The Daily regrets the errors.