The Clackamas Print
March 5, 2003
Traumatized cats rescued by Cat Club
Karin Redston, community liaison
of the Cat Club, called club member
Peggy Finerty early on Sunday, Feb. 23
and asked her to survey the living con
ditions of a trailer home out in Molalla.
Down a dead end road, located in
the Forest Haven trailer park, sits a
dilapidated house. Recently, the occu
pant died from poor health; inside the
living conditions are horrific.
Garbage is piled on the floor, along
the walls, on the counters and upon
every surface. The carpets are saturated
SADIE McCARTHY Clackamas Print
A struggling cat lies on a
piece of old newspaper.
with feces, cigarettes and soil. Among
the litter, skeletal remains of cats accu
mulate.
“I’ve been doing cat rescues for
over two years and never came across
something this bad,” said Finerty.
“Peggy is not afraid of anything,
that’s why I asked her to check it out,”
said Redston. “She’s the maverick of
our club.”
Surveying is a regular job that
Finerty devotes her time to, but this
occasion proved to be an emergency.
“I was told that there were nine cats
that needed checking on, but, it turns out
"there were three times that.” Finerty
said.
Finerty took two close friends, Dean
Warden and.Laura Burton - also Cat
Club members, on this rescue mission
with her.
“We first found about TO cats that
were trapped in a back room. Most of
them weren’t tamed, so it was hard to
catch them because they would hide.”
Finerty said. “Then they were taken to
temporary foster homes.”
On Feb. 25, Finerty and gang jour
neyed back to Molalla and set live cat
traps around the interior and exterior of
the house.
/ “They work great: the cat walks into
the trap to get the food and that triggers
the door to close behind them.” They
caught six more, but say that there are
more hiding.
‘These cats are traumatized, and
still, they are gorgeous.” Redston said.
“We first found
about 10 cats
that were
trapped in a
back room
Peggy Finerty
Cat Club member
It
Regardless of their beauty, the
neighbors had been taking matters into
their own hands before the Cat Club
steppedin.
“I hate them,” reported the next-
door neighbor. “They go through my
yard all the time.”
Others told Finerty that they had
been shooting and poisoning the cats.
“All we know is that the owner did-
SADIE M c C arthy Clackamas Print
The skeletal remains of several cats were found amongst
the garbage that filled the home at Forest Haven.
n’t intend for this to get out of control,
she didn’t want to give up her cats.
There was no one to help her.. .she got
very ill,” said Finerty.
All of the cats are going through
rehabilitation, getting bathed, and
immunized. Steve Milner’s vet has
taken in some of the cats, while PAWS
(Pet Adoption West Side) has taken 10
others to the Mt. Scott Clinic for treat
ment
The Cat Club has set up a fundrais
er, the Molalla Kitties Rescue Fund, to
ensure that all the cats are properly
cared for and finally sent to loving
homes.
To find out how you can help, con
tact either Steve Milner at (503) 657-
6553 or Karin Redston at (503) 650-
7881.
History teacher chosen to study German demographics
Feature Editor
History instructor Trish McFarland
recently learned that she has been
selected by the Fulbright Commission
to study Germany’s demographic prob
lem.
McFarland brings a unique perspec
tive to the group of 24 U.S. professors
and researchers as one of two historians.
Her academic and personal knowledge
earned her a spot as the only communi
ty college professor in the group.
In June, the commission will spend
three weeks in Berlin, Rostock and
Frankfurt to meet with German political
party leaders, public health officials,
government agencies, directors of
retirement homes, research institute
directors and others to discuss issues
facing Germany as its population ages
and does not replace itself.
ELISABETH MEYER Clockomos Print
History instructor Trish
McFarland is one of two his
torians who will Join 24 U.S.
professors and researchers
to study Germany’s demo
graphic problem.
McFarland applied to join the com
mission last fall. She found information
regarding the annual German Studies
Seminar on the Fulbright website. The
seminar focuses on population structure
this year.
“I thought, I can do this, this all fits
me,” she said. McFarland’s research
specialty is German history, and she
wrote her dissertation on educational
reform in 1920s Germany.
“After two years of research and a
year of writing (the dissertation) you are
very sick of it, you think it’s terrible, and
when it’s behind you, you’re like,
‘thank God’,” she said.
McFarland’s academic expertise is
paying off, but she has other notable
qualifications, too. She ties her interest
in German history to her mother, who
emigrated from Germany to the U.S.
when she was 30. “Having been raised
as an American with a German parent
and an American parent, I’m always
seeing comparisons. Apparently, I was
able to convey in my proposal that I’d
be able to bring that to the group.”
McFarland said her proposal, which
all applicants submitted to be consid
ered for joining the commission, sug
gested changing immigration standards.
“Immigration is one of the possible
“I feel a little
intimidated...
but I’m also
excited.”
7
CCC History Instructor
answers,” McFarland said. “How do
you deal with a declining population?
You accept more immigrants, but when
you say immigration is the answer to
the demographic problem, it raises new
questions. What do you do when your
immigrants speak different languages?
I
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Your schools have to adapt. But nobody
is talking about German women having
more babies.”
Unlike the U.S., said McFarland,
Germany isn’t used to dealing with
immigrants. “We’ve...historically been
an immigrant nation. For Germany, it’s
a new situation.”
“We’re not going just to talk about
immigration,” McFarland stressed.
“(The other historian and I) are going to
be giving historical insight”
Others selected to be in the group
include another historian, sociologists,
medical doctors and professors of eco
nomics, anthropology, political sci
ences, family studies and foreign lan
guages.
As the only participant to be select
ed from a . community college,
McFarland feels a little pressure. “I feel
a little intimidated looking at the list of
participants here,” McFarland said, “but
I’m also excited.”
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