Elkins’ Stray Cat Population: Challenges and Possible Solutions

Over the past few weeks, we’ve received many questions and concerns from residents about Elkins’ “feral” cat population. We share your concerns—some City employees have had similar experiences. 

To start, let’s have a little discussion, along with some meows and purrs on the types of cats you’ll come across in Elkins: 

• The indoor-outdoor cats: Most likely your neighbors’ cats, generally harmless. 

• “Community cats”: They are most likely the “stray” cats that people in your neighborhood may be feeding, and most likely they’ve been treated by the local humane society (more details on what they do are below). They may approach you if you gesture to them, or they may not. Again, generally they are harmless. 

• Feral cats: Actually, there are few feral cats in Elkins, as far as the definition goes. They will most likely run away from you if you approach them. In a few extreme cases, they might hiss at you. They are the ones who could carry diseases such as rabies, herpes viral conjunctivitis, feline immunodeficiency virus, leukemia, and infectious peritonitis. To be clear, however, there are very few of these cats within Elkins city limits. 

In the vast majority of cases, the outdoor cats you encounter in our city are the indoor-outdoor cats and community cats. 

Why Are These Cats Wandering to My Place, and What Can I Do? 

Cats are often looking for a safe place with food, water, and shelter. As with any animal species, if you have a soft spot and decide to give a cat some food, the chances are high that cat will be a repeat visitor —along with other animals like opossums, racoons, and skunks. 

If you thought what was once a kind gesture has resulted in an annoyance (as in, cats defecating on your property), then consider using some natural deterrents. To be fair, asking five different neighbors for ideas will give you five different solutions. Generally, when it comes time to urinate or defecate, cats dislike spaces with the scent of citrus, mustard, vinegar, eucalyptus and peppermint. For example, this article’s author had a problem with cats defecating in a patch next to his backyard porch. After some internet sleuthing, he started leaving his morning coffee grounds in this area soon after he moved here, and a cat hasn’t left such a deposit since! 

Other scents cats dislike include lavender, geranium, rosemary, thyme, rue (ornamental grace), banana, pepper, curry, cinnamon, mint, wintergreen, menthol, and pine. Remember, not all scents will necessarily work to deter all cats, so when experimenting with different scents or deciding what to plant in your garden to deter stray cats, expect a few rounds of trial and error. 

Physical barriers are another option for property owners. Lattice and chicken wire can block access to cats from entering areas like gardens where cats like to hide. Exclusion fencing can help discourage cats from entering larger areas. Finally, uncomfortable surfaces for cats, including pinecones and sharp-edged mulch can provide a protective barrier for property owners who don’t want cats entering their property. 

Who’s Responsible for Animal Control in Elkins? 

Animal control in Elkins falls under the jurisdiction of the Randolph County Animal Control Officer (ACO) and the Randolph County Humane Society (RCHS), an independent nonprofit. RCHS follows a no-kill policy and practices a trap-neuter-vaccinate-release (TNVR) policy for stray cats. 

The City of Elkins does not employ its own animal control staff, and the Elkins Police Department (EPD) responds only to immediately dangerous animals. (For context, EPD already handles about 600 calls per month.) 

In supporting animal control efforts, Elkins City Council provides annual funding to both the ACO’s office and RCHS—particularly for the TNVR program. In 2016, the Council also adopted a resolution designating Elkins as a “Humane City,” formally endorsing the no-kill approach. 

However, due to these policies and limited resources, the City’s ability to address stray cat issues depends heavily on one Randolph County ACO and RCHS’s capacity. As a no-kill shelter, RCHS often has little to no space for additional cats, and each TNVR procedure requires funding for veterinary costs. These constraints mean the county’s ACO has nowhere to take trapped cats, limiting how much trapping can be done. 

Can’t Someone Just Set Traps to Contain the Local Cat Population? 

That approach may sound easy in theory, but in practice, it’s a different story. If the county ACO were to suddenly decide to capture stray cats on private property—and let’s be clear, most property in Elkins is privately owned—it’s important to think about the legal implications surrounding trapping and removal. The ACO would have to consider local ordinances, seek permission from property owners, and ensure that humane methods of trapping these cats are used. 

What Should Elkins Residents NOT Do When Dealing with Stray Cats? 

Residents need to be aware that several options are not effective or ethical: 

• Don’t relocate stray cats: Intuitively, this may appear to be an option, but it is ineffective and unethical to relocate stray cats. Once they’ve bonded with their territory, they see it as their home; if someone forcibly moves them, they might die trying to return to what they view is their safe space. 

• Don’t use harmful poisons or chemicals: Never use any poisons, including rat poisons to deter cats. The same goes for harmful chemicals. Not only do they impose risks on other pets, but they could also harm wildlife, and of course humans. Bottom line, they can result in slow and painful deaths.

What Are the City’s Options for Dealing with Stray Cats? 

Given the county’s limited capacity, stray cat populations persist in some areas of Elkins. If you’re experiencing issues with stray cats, we recommend contacting RCHS directly to see how they can assist you. 

If RCHS is unable to resolve the problem in your area, hypothetical long-term solutions might include: 

1. Greatly expanding capacity at RCHS, and/or 
2. Hiring a dedicated Elkins ACO. 

However, both options come with challenges: 

• Hiring an ACO would likely cost the City of Elkins at least $50,000 annually, plus an initial $100,000 or more for a vehicle and the necessary equipment. 

• Without additional shelter space, an Elkins ACO would face the same limitations as the county ACO—unless the City established its own shelter, which would raise funding and ethical questions (particularly regarding euthanasia policies). 

• The cost to expand RCHS’s capacity is unclear, though Randolph County currently contributes about $80,000 to its budget per year, with additional funding from Elkins and other donors. The Elkins has community has been supportive of the RCHS, one example being the funding of a new cat facility that broke ground in June 2026. Residents inclined to donate funds to help the RCHS manage its programs such as TNVR may do so here. 

Could the City Afford These Solutions? 

As with many challenges within the City of Elkins, this all comes down to resource prioritization. While some view sales tax revenue as “extra,” it makes up about one-third of our $6.5 million General Fund. Keep in mind that West Virginia state law requires a city to spend what it takes in, so the city is not funneling significant money into some kind of savings account. That $6.5 million is spoken for each year to fund the services the City currently provides, saving for the cost of future known projects and equipment replacement, and with a small percentage reserved in a “rainy day fund.”

Ever since the implementation of the sales tax, in addition to helping with ever-climbing costs of all supplies and materials, the expanded revenue has helped the City fund the following net new expenditures: 

• Three additional police officer positions 

• Increased street paving 

• More staff in Streets and Sanitation 

• Purchase of a grapple truck and implementation of free, monthly bulk pickups 

• Expanded demolition of dilapidated properties 

• Upgrades to and ongoing maintenance of the city’s Flood Control Works 

• Upgrades to the Phil Gainer Community Center 

• GIS maps and applications for better planning and tracking of city infrastructure 

With relatively flat revenues each year, any new initiative—whether a city shelter or an ACO—would require tradeoffs, such as reducing personnel or services in other departments. City Council could certainly consider these changes, but they would need to weigh these tradeoffs. Further, unlike a private business, the City cannot simply “move funds around,” as it is illegal to transfer money between its General Fund and any of our three enterprise funds such as the Sewer Fund, Water Fund, and Sanitation Fund. 

When people are struggling with an acute issue—such as a problematic stray cat colony—they often feel quite ready to accept these kinds of tradeoffs. But keep in mind that the City also receives frequent requests from other citizens and stakeholders for: 

• Even more police officers, 

• Even more expanded street repairs, and 

• A dedicated stormwater management crew

Additionally, less visible but equally urgent needs include hiring an IT manager (to ensure full protection of the City’s essential digital infrastructure) and fully staffing the HR department (to ensure compliance with complex federal and state regulation son hiring and terminating employees to avoid potentially costly legal issues).

All of these positions and other potential expenditures are important to someone, but limited funds require balancing competing priorities and making tough decisions. No decision that any city makes can ever satisfy every single resident or stakeholder, but the goal is to achieve the greatest public good possible with the resources that are available at any one time. 

Finally, if you feel strongly about this or any other issue, remember that all of Elkins’ City Council, committee, and board meetings are open to the public.