Several local animal advocates said they plan to protest during the Oregon Humane Society’s WillaMutt Strut fundraiser and festival Saturday over concerns about OHS’s policy regarding stray animals.
The protestors said their concerns stem back to November 2022 after OHS merged with the Willamette Humane Society in Salem and changed its intake policy for stray cats, no longer accepting healthy strays from Marion County .
The organization still accepts sick or injured strays, and OHS spokesperson Laura Klink said they currently have about 20 stray cats.
But Lora Meisner, who runs the Coalition Advocating for Animals in Salem and is one of the protest organizers, said people who bring in sick or injured strays often are turned away.
Klink said state law considers stray cats found property, meaning they have to be held for 90 days before they can be adopted. That would “quickly clog the system,” she said. The organization needs a memorandum of understanding from Marion and Polk counties, or else it has to defer to that 90-day hold, she said. Polk County signed a memorandum, but Marion County did not.