A campus presence is gone. The small family of cats that used to live near to Archdale Hall has been banned from campus.So why have these campus pets been banished from the only home they have ever known? An interesting series of events seems to have led to this disappointing result.

This past summer, two possums died somewhere in the air system of Archdale Hall. The first was found in late May while the phone system was being repaired. Simultaneously, Archdale was infested with an outbreak of fleas. David Petree, Landscaping and Grounds Manager, sprayed inside the building for fleas the first time in mid-June, but the problem returned. Then, in July, a second decomposing possum was discovered.

By late July and into August, as faculty members were returning to the building, the fleas were still a critical issue, and the building was treated once again. Soon after, John Jenkins, the Associate Chief Financial Officer for Facilities, received complaints from faculty that there were still fleas, and Terminix was called in to assist with the situation. Janet Wright, Archdale Hall secretary, says that the fleas originally appeared in the women’s restroom downstairs, and she believes that, despite several theories, the original source of the fleas was the dead possums that were at that time rotting within the walls.

So how does this concern the family of cats? Since Terminix wanted to spray the outside of the building, with more potent chemicals, Petree and Jenkins were informed that they must “remove from sight any possible sources of the fleas” for the spraying or the company would not honor its contract. So, in concern for the safety cats, and some faculty speculation that the four cats were somehow responsible for the fleas, Mary Ann Mayer was asked to remove the cats for a short period of time during the pesticide treatment.

Mayer is a local Greensboro vet and YMCA member who had been caring for the Archdale cat family for the last five years. She noticed them one day while running on the Guilford Campus and has watched them grow and socialize since kitten hood. While the cats were very young, she trapped them and had each spayed or neutered, vaccinated, as well as tested for Feline Leukemia and HIV. She then released them to where they had settled between Archdale, English, and Hege Cox, and had been feeding them daily since then. They have been very lucky, healthy, and nurtured feral cats.

Mayer was assured by Jenkins that the cats would be allowed to return to their home and be able live out their natural lives on the campus once the potentially dangerous pesticide treatment was complete. So, when the company left, and the fleas seemed to have subsided, she re-released them back to their previous area. Then a few days later, a sign appeared that stated to “discontinue the feeding of the cats” and that the Guilford County Environmental Health Department was somehow involved in the lives of these four cats. She then received a call at work from Jenkins, now stating that the cats must be permanently removed.

Jenkins had received a call from the Health Department that an anonymous complaint had been registered. Because of this complaint, the Health Department ordered that the college was “not allowed to condone the feeding of feral cats,” since the food attracts other animals that could possibly create “health risks.” Mayer says it was made clear previously that “the Health Department would use whatever means necessary to rid the campus of the cats,” and it seemed to her that the cats were thought of as “disposable.”

Jenkins started to receive many calls of concern for the cats, and a more considerate plan was arranged with Mayer. She has now been given time to remove the cats once again, with the promise that they will not be captured by the Health Department, and nothing will be done by the college to harm them.

Many of the cat lovers on campus were quite frightened at the possibility of the city’s removal of the cats. Since the cats are feral, semi-wild animals, their likelihood of adoption becomes very slim. Then they surely would be euphemized soon after their removal, despite their good health. Wright comments, “It seems that the situation escalated before anyone realized… but John Jenkins made efforts for a humane solution.” Mayer reflects the same sentiment: “the cats have not been a problem, then all of a sudden, it seems like a lot of hoo-ha and big power things and kind of confusing. I hate that it winds up with the cats stuck in the middle.”

Mayer is thankful for the recent cooperation and time given to be able to capture the cats herself. This is a difficult and time-consuming process considering the cats are now wary of the traps, and the years of trust she had developed with them has been partially shattered, as “they revert back to a fearful state.” Mayer said, “They are fearful of me now, which is heartbreaking,” but she is glad that they can be taken to a safe, loving home, even if it is her own.

She plans to keep them as a group and readjust them slowly to the outdoors around her home, with the hope that they will remain there. She is still willing to take time to try again to somewhat domesticate them, this time in a different setting. “It has been an emotional roller coaster for me, but I really appreciated everyone’s input. It means a lot to me when people say that [the cats] have been a big part of the campus.” She even remembers children from the Eastern Music Festival that return each year and remember the cats as a part of their experience, and visit the cats like the pets they miss while they’re away from home.

Janet Wright has enjoyed the presence of the cats for the time she has worked in Archdale. She and other faculty and staff have even given them personality appropriate nicknames such as Little Girl, Momma Momma, and Mr. Scraggs. She is very sad to see them leave and will miss them but also is content with the way the Administration dealt with the situation. She believes the Administration could have easily been much less humane, harsh, and non-cooperative. She feels that the cats’ life with Mayer is “the next best thing” to the cats returning to Guilford’s campus. “It is most important that they are taken to some place where they are well cared for and loved,” Wright said.