Lakewood public safety panel and volunteers back codifying TNR program with training and reporting requirements

Lakewood’s Public Safety Committee on April 7 heard a law department draft that would codify the city’s Trap‑Neuter‑Return (TNR) program and keep program rules and caregiver reporting inside the municipal code rather than only in administrative policy.

Assistant Law Director Swallow told the committee the administration’s draft “makes it clear that there is a TNR program available in Lakewood, but it also still requires that any individuals trapping have some training to make sure that they’re doing this properly, safely, and in a humane manner for the animals,” and that the code would include definitions (community cat, community caregiver, ear tipping, trap‑neuter‑return) and operational rules.

Under the draft, TNR activity would be limited seasonally (April 1–Oct. 31 unless the shelter supervisor grants permission), require humane traps that are monitored and covered to reduce stress, and require caregivers to schedule sterilization, ear tipping and rabies vaccination appointments in advance and return community cats to the location where they were trapped. The draft also requires caregivers to report annually to animal control the number of animals trapped and sterilized and to note unintended captures; the proposal sets penalties for violations.

Animal Control Supervisor Gary Crumley and volunteers from CLAWS (Citizens Committee for Lakewood’s Animals & Shelter) and Lakewood Bridal Safety & Welfare Advisory Board told the committee they support codification but asked for explicit exceptions that preserve animal control discretion in unusual situations such as extreme hoarding or large animal welfare crises. CLAWS volunteer Kara Black Lasher and Erin McDonald (Advisory Board president) both urged that ear‑tipped cats — an indicator a cat is already sterilized — be returned immediately to their territory to prevent removals that would re‑create a vacuum for more feral reproduction; Mr. Crumley said he supports TNR volunteers but wants to retain discretion to address hoarding or medically compromised populations.

Why it matters: Codifying TNR clarifies legal protections for volunteers and sets minimum humane standards and recordkeeping to reduce complaints and improve animal health while creating a compliance path for community caregivers.

Next steps: The committee opened public comment and received support from CLAWS volunteers and other caregivers who provided program data (CLAWS volunteers reported 41 cats worked in 2024 with 27 returned). Committee members signaled they expect the draft to return for further committee review and public docketing so council can consider it legislatively.

Ending: The committee did not adopt final legislation at the meeting; the law department will refine language (including potential supervisor discretion for hoarding situations) before formal docketing and public comment.