our count is up to 13 cats and 1 dog.
it's been weeks since we've caught a cat, and we've only seen one in the yard on 2 occasions since December-ish. We will put the trap out for a week after we see a cat, but if not caught, then the trap goes away. It looks like we got rid of a bulk of the problem.
yesterday, a dog wandered into our yard. We have 6ft wooden fences around most of the yard, but there's a wrought iron fence along the driveway - the gaps are big enough for a very small dog to get through. (Wiggles is ~27lbs, and can't get through the fence.) The dog looks like it's a rat terrier mix. she's very friendly.
DK was doing yard work when the dog showed up. It was wearing a collar, but no tags. I suggested walking it around the neighborhood and see if anyone knew who owned it. He had a few people tell him to see "Anna" at a house a few streets away from ours. Nobody was home, so he left a note for her with our phone #. He also told her we were going to turn the dog over to Animal Control if we didn't hear from her by this morning.
We got a call at 9 last night, and Anna said that the dog (to her knowledge) was a stray. She had been taking care of it, trying to find the owner, when the dog escaped from her property a few days ago. She was debating keeping it (her kids got attached) but then it got out. We told her she was welcome to pick it up, otherwise we would turn it over today.
We haven't heard back, so animal control is on it's way out. Provided the dog is in good health, the story should have a happy ending. She is very sweet/friendly, and seemed to like our dogs. They'll check for a microchip, look for the owner for 3 days, and then put her up for adoption. I don't think they'll have any issues finding a home for this little girl. I'm giving the officer Anna's number in case she decides to adopt the dog.