Animal Lovers Supporting Feral Cat Spay-Neuter

Would many people be willing to humanely trap a feral cat, spend $40 to have it spayed or neutered, and then release it back into the wild?

The answer is a resounding "yes," based on response to the Humane Society of Highlands County's first feral cat spay-neuter clinic on Feb. 23.

Barbara Clark, humane society president, said about 50 reservations were e-mailed in. Some animal lovers, though, will have to perfect their trapping, as 25 feral cats were brought in.

"Trapping these cats sound easy, but it's not," Clark said. "They are not tame, they can not be handled and are considered wild."

The humane society had planned to run the feral cat clinic once a month, but has now decided to offer it virtually every Monday, starting March 9.

People willing to catch a feral cat in a humane trap the night before a clinic and pay $40 for spay/neuter should e-mail reservations to humanesociety@tnni, Clark said. In a return e-mail, they will receive a reservation and detailed information.

The catch-neuter-release program for feral cats was launched to reduce the booming numbers of wild cats throughout Highlands County, Clark said. More than 2,000 cats, mostly wild, had to be euthanized last year by Highlands County Animal Control.

Clark said she wasn't surprised by the response to the first feral cat clinic.

"This is a community of animal lovers," she said. "There are many people who want to help if they can find a way to do that."

Clark also reported that four community organizations called her and offered to stage fund raisers for the humane society after reading the story announcing the feral cat clinics.

"People do care," she said.

As a volunteer, Dr. Elton Gissendanner, a Lake Placid veterinarian, has been spay-neutering all dogs and cats put up for adoption by the humane society, and he is also providing his services free for the feral cat program.

Clark said the $40 fee is virtually at-cost, covering medication, a rabies shot, and the work of four paid staff who assist Gissendanner in the surgeries. The humane society, which operates totally on donations, expects to keep about 4 percent of the feral cat fees to help fund its programs.

Darryl Scott, director of Animal Control, advises people not to feed feral cats.

So does Clark.

"There are a lot of people feeding these wild cats because they feel sorry for them," she said. "But that has been the problem, the feeding continues the breeding. We're telling people it's not a good idea to feed wild cats because they will continue to breed and stay in the area, and there are health issues."

Clark particularly recalls one man who brought in a feral cat on Feb. 23. He told her he had watched the cat have two litters in a woods by his house, and saw every kitten disappear, probably eaten by a predator.

"He said it was heart breaking to see that," Clark said. "And he said it was well worth it ($40 fee). He told us, 'I don't want this poor cat to go through that again.'"