Altus man named community hero for work with feral cats

ALTUS — One morning, Ingemar Woods was drinking his coffee at his home in Altus when he realized there were too many mistreated feral cats in his neighborhood. He decided he had to do something about it.

“I got kind of bored and I was looking in my neighborhood,” Woods said. “I’ve seen so many feral cats and how they’re mistreated, not cared for and I wanted to take some in and see if I can help them.”

Over the years, he has helped many cats in the Altus area throughout the years. Now, the Humane Society of the U.S. has declared him a community hero.

Woods has been recognized for his efforts to help people and their pets in communities that lack resources for pets, such as pet food and health care, according to an email sent by the Humane Society. Woods was one of three finalists selected nationwide for the More than a Pet Community Hero Award, which honors those who give access to pet resources in underserved communities.

Although Woods did not win, but he still holds his community hero title while taking care of his cats.

Woods said he is self-funded, but gets help from Pets for Life, a program that offers free resources and care for pets in communities with limited resources. The program is a part of the Southwest Oklahoma Community Action Group.

Woods’ rural property is 50 miles from the nearest spay and neuter clinic, but he still takes care of the area’s community cats, according to the email. Community cats is a modern phrase that replaced the former names alley cats and stray cats.

Woods said he grew up in Western Oklahoma, but moved away for a point of time.

“I used to be an oilfield worker,” Woods said. “[With the oil field boom bust] in 1983, I moved to the Pacific Northwest, but I’d come back several times and lived in Oklahoma.”

Woods said he retired from education administration eight years ago, due to heart disease.

“I was too busy with other things in life,” Woods said. “When I retired, I got to be more observant of issues that needed to be dealt with in my community.”

Woods has become a resourceful and dedicated cat advocate and extended member of Pets for Life, according to the email. He spends much of his time trapping cats so they can receive medical care and get spayed or neutered. Because of his work and dedication, many of the cats find their way back to his property and end up staying.

Woods said he loves to see how the cats rehabilitate physically and mentally.

“They return your love, and that’s a great thing,” Woods said. “I love to see the cats that I’ve been able to rehabilitate health wise and some of them even behavior wise. When you get them spayed and neutered, they calm down and don’t fight each other. It’s the joy of watching animals thrive that could’ve died.”

Woods said since society viewed community cats and dogs as “a big nuisance,” they didn’t help to fix the problem.

“If you vaccinate them and do the spay and neutering, the population gets less and they get healthier,” Woods said. “We’re having a societal change, a shift toward knowing what’s evidence based, that you spay, neuter and vaccinate them and release them back into there. They do well, they don’t bother too much, they don’t become a nuisance.”

Woods said he doesn’t consider his new title a big deal as much as his cats.

“I just hope that people start educating themselves about spaying, neutering and vaccinating,” Woods said.