Community groups ask council to back developmental-disability events and expanded pet services

During audience participation, two community speakers urged council support for local programs.

Alex Ruby, community outreach director for the Pioneer Center with the Ross County Board of Developmental Disabilities, asked council to promote and attend Developmental Disability Awareness Month events, including a march downtown at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 6, and a proclamation by Mayor Feeney and Commissioner Everson. Ruby provided the Pioneer Center website (rossdd.org) and social-media contacts for more details.

Bethany Snowdon, representing Katz and Company, described challenges she has seen while volunteering with homeless residents and free-roaming cats. Snowdon said a prior city grant of $15,000 supported a trap-neuter-return (TNR) program run largely by volunteers and that Katz and Company now operates from a 4,400-square-foot facility with roughly 30 volunteers. She told council she has documented what she estimated as more than 2,000 unaltered roaming cats within city limits and urged the city to consider programs for TNR, pet-friendly housing options for people in rehab or homelessness, and an emergency response option for injured cats.

Snowdon said volunteers and veterinary-assisting students have helped but that emotional-support animals often cannot accompany people into local detox or rehab facilities, creating barriers to treatment. She asked the council to keep these issues in mind during budget and program planning.

Council thanked both speakers; no formal council action was taken during the meeting on these requests.