UCAPS hosts second TNR event

Lounging: A stray cat rolls in the sun on East 8th Street.
Lounging: A stray cat rolls in the sun on East 8th Street.

The Union County Animal Protection Society had its second feral cat collection for its trap-neuter-return program on Thursday night with the goal of catching 26 feral cats.

Through the program, which started in March, volunteers with UCAPS place traps in residential and commercial communities that catch feral cats. The cats are then taken to a veterinarian in order to get spayed or neutered and receive vaccinations before being returned to the same area where they were caught.

Trap-neuter-return (TNR) programs have been linked to a decrease in the number of stray cats. For instance, a study from the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science found a 72 percent decrease in the number of stray cats at Texas A&M University one year after starting a TNR program on the campus.

Litters can vary in size, but on average are between three and five kittens. Female cats can also carry two or three litters a year, which means the population in an area can expand quickly.

Angelica Wurth, one of the UCAPS volunteers involved in the program, said that during the first collection UCAPS caught 15 stray cats around Chick-a-Dilly on Hillsboro and the neighborhood near Spudnuts on Faulkner Street. All 15 cats have since been released back into the area where they were caught.

Wurth said there were six strays around Chick-a-Dilly that they’d hoped to trap during the first collection, but weren’t able to. As such, Thursday night’s collection returned to that area and set up traps in the neighborhoods around 6th Street. Seven volunteers went out with 26 traps, hoping to catch a stray in each trap.

“We’ve had some calls from several folks (around 6th Street) saying there’s neighborhood cats that are there,” Wurth said. “It seems like the cats have been growing in population so there’s a great need there. Just based on citizen and community input, we decided to go there.”

In addition to a few snap traps UCAPS already had, for the first collection soft close traps were purchased, which Wurth said won’t scare cats away since they close quietly.

UCAPS started out with a budget of about $10,000 for the TNR program, Wurth said. The first $2,500 came from UCAPS’ Spooky Night Benefit Social, which was held in October. PJ’s Coffee then matched that amount, donating another $2,500 to the program. UCAPS received a grant for the final $5,000. The first collection cost about $3,000, which included buying new traps.

Since then, UCAPS has received a $1,500 grant from the Union County Community Foundation to help with funding the TNR program. Wurth said it will cost about $2,000 to fix the cats collected Thursday.

Once caught, the cats are taken either to the Goodwin Animal Clinic and Stuttgart Animal Clinic.

The average cost to spay or neuter a cat is about $125, however taking them to Stuttgart Animal Clinic costs $52 per cat. Also Dr. Suzanne Parker, of the Goodwin Animal Clinic, donated 25 spay or neuter treatments to the program.

While at the clinics, cats also receive vaccinations such as the rabies vaccine and get their ear clipped to show they’ve had the procedure done. The ear clipping takes place while the cat is still under anesthesia so that the removal of a quarter-inch of the tip of one ear does not hurt them.

UCAPS also recently had a rummage sale, where it was able to raise over $3,500, which went to benefit the adoption center. Wurth said UCAPS is working on raising $60,000 in order to renovate the new adoption center.

“We’re trying to renovate it and build in kennels and things because we’re going to have dogs and cats there for adoptions,” Wurth said. “We’re going to also have educational sessions there.”

One of the sessions Wurth said UCAPS is planning to offer there once the renovations are complete is about how community members can do their own TNR in their own neighborhood.

“We’ll hand out traps and teach them how to do it themselves,” she said. “We can empower them to control the cat population in their own neighborhoods. There’s a lot of folks who see neighborhood cats and know them. They serve a purpose with controlling mice and that kind of thing. People want them around and they feed them and they care about them, but they can’t continue to care for litter after litter every year.”

Michael Shine may be reached at 870-862-6611 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter and like him on Facebook @MichaelAZShine for updates on Union County school news.

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