Feral cat colonies have been considered a major issue in the Tri-State for many years. A feral cat is a domestic cat that has been without interaction with a human, sometimes since birth, but more often for extended periods of time after their birth and are considered wild.

Frequently these cats have been someone’s pet and that person decided they no longer wanted the cat and dropped the cat. What happens next is the cat begins searching for food to survive and usually ends up around restaurants or other places of business where there are dumpsters and food. The cats will begin to breed and with female cats being able to have two to three litters of kittens a year, this starts a colony and then the public is up in arms and see the cats as a nuisance and wants them eradicated. Unfortunately, if these cats are trapped and taken to local animal shelters it is almost always a guaranteed death sentence, because the cats are wild and are difficult to work with in captivity because of their fear of humans.

Over the past few years efforts have been made to educate the public about feral cats and to encourage people to spay and neuter their pets and to help eliminate this problem. Help for Animals Spay/Neuter Clinic, in Barbourville, West Virginia, has been operating a feral cat trapping programs for years. Recently the director of this program, Nancy Simmons, was made aware of situation in the Lawrence County area where there are several colonies of feral cats and there was a desperate need to safely trap these cats and have them spayed and neutered.

The concerned citizen who contacted the clinic did not have the financial resources to pay the cost of spaying and neutering the many cats in need, but was very concerned for the cats. At that point, Nancy Simmons made contact with Alberta Wise, Director of the Lawrence County Humane Society. The situation was explained to Ms. Wise and without hesitation she agreed the Lawrence County Humane Society would pay for the cost to have the cats spayed and neutered.

As a result 13 cats, thus far, have been safely trapped and taken to Help for Animals Spay/Neuter Clinic where they were spayed and neutered, given a rabies vaccination and their left ear was tipped. The left ear tip is a universal sign that the cat has been spayed or neutered and is living in a colony that is being managed.

There will continue to be further feral cat trappings in Lawrence County with weather permitting and Lawrence County Humane Society has graciously agreed to continue to finance the cost of the spaying and neutering of these feral cats, in an effort to curb the overpopulation of feral cats in their county.

In addition, this gives the feral cats a better chance at a longer, healthier life as the males no longer fight one another for territorial rights and breeding rights, the females no longer have litter after litter of kittens and it decreases their roaming from place to place. The Lawrence County Humane Society has been in existence since for many years and has helped with the spaying and neutering, and adoption of hundreds of animals from the local shelter and within in the community.

If you would like to make a donation to the Lawrence County Human Society the address is:

Lawrence County Human Society, P.O. Box 412, Ironton, OH 45638

If you have a cat or dog, PLEASE do the responsible thing and have your pet spayed or neutered. Help for Animals Spay/Neuter Clinic, in Barboursville (near the Huntington mall) operates a low cost spay/neuter clinic. To make an appointment, or for further information on the spay/neuter program and/or the feral cat trapping program, call Help For Animals, Inc at 304-736-8555.

 

Nancy Simmons

Help For Animals

304-736-8555