Feral Cat Day | Animal Care Sanctuary

Roxy and Rylan

Bradford County Humane Society and Animal Care Sanctuary Partner to Reduce the Feral Cat Population.

The Bradford County Humane Society(BCHS) and Animal Care Sanctuary(ACS)have teamed up to start a new program to reduce the local population of feral cats. What better time to start this program, then to honor National Feral Cat Day which was October 16th. The month of October resulted in 417 total cat surgeries. Jennifer Spencer, Executive Director of Bradford County Humane Society stated that ?We?re really hoping that this will help to at least put a dent in the population of feral cats in the area?

The first two areas of focus for the ?Trap-neuter-return? program are Jackson?s Trailer Court and the Piper Trailer Court, both in Wysox Township. One of the big problem areas where colonies of feral cats are located are trailer courts.

Utilizing traps from Chemung County SPCA, volunteers from Bradford County Humane Society trapped up to 20 feral cats and brought them to the Animal Care Sanctuary in East Smithfield, where they were spayed and neutered by Dr. Michelle Kaleta & her veterinary team. After their surgery, they were returned to the trailer court. Rachelle Shaffer, ACS Licensed Veterinary Technician stated that she ?is very happy to work with BCHS to provide such

Surgery Day

a needed service.?

While feral cats and pet cats are both members of the domestic cat species, feral cats are stray, wild cats that cannot be tamed to become house cats. Because feral cats are not socialized to humans, they cannot be adopted by a family to become a house pet, according to the group Alley Cat Allies.

Both ACS & BCHS are inundated all year long with people calling and saying they have 10-30 feral cats. Feral cats need to be spayed and neutered, so that they don?t continue to breed and perpetuate the problem.

The goal of the Humane Society and Animal Care Sanctuary is to expand the program to other sites in Bradford County where feral cat colonies exist. While the Humane Society and Animal Care Sanctuary are paying for the program at the two trailer courts in Wysox, they are applying for grants to expand the program to other locations, Spencer said. This has been a fantastic collaborative effort that will need financial and volunteer support to sustain the program.

According to the Alley Cat Allies program, which has been involved in trap-neuter-return (TNR) programs in other locations, TNR works. The population of feral cats at a site that been targeted for TNR will decline over time, the organization said. ?The behaviors and stresses associated with mating, such as yowling, spraying, and fighting, stop,? according to a brochure from the organization.

The Animal Care Sanctuary Community Care Clinic-West in Wellsboro, also observed National Feral Cat Day, October 16th, 2012. ?We are committed to performing 50 spay/neuter surgeries at our Wellsboro branch Tuesday October 16th in observance of National Feral Cat Day,? says ACS veterinarian Alaire Smith-Miller. ?It?s been proven, that humanely spaying and neutering unwanted cats significantly reduces the numbers within a colony. In a five year span, you can have invisible cat population problems under control and manageable. Invisible cats in our region are barn cats, porch cats, dropped off cats, municipality cats, trailer park cats?they are half friendly, but no one knows who owns them; yet everyone opts to feed them.?

ACS, Wellsboro, 11765 Route 6, has responded to the public outcry for resources to accommodate the cat overpopulation problem in Tioga County, and our region. ?We opened Community Care Clinic September 13, 2012, to help combat the cat overpopulation problem. Reduced cost spay, neuter, and rabies clinics, will assist our community by getting the cat population under control. It will not occur overnight, but it is our goal to humanely eliminate unwanted cats by altering them one cat at a time.

Please contact BCHS at 570-888-2114 or ACS at 570-596-2200 for more information, to find our adoptable pets, to donate, and to find out about upcoming events. We are a non-profit organizations, and we rely on donations from generous individuals to help us care for animals in need in Tioga and Bradford Counties.

Source: http://www.animalcaresanctuary.org/feral-cat-day/

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