Stop cat madness with City Cat Fix

Many residents of the city of Lynchburg have neighborhood cats living around their home. Some don’t mind them and others don’t want them.

Year after year shelters in the area see the result of these cats reproducing. The No. 1 killer of cats in the United States, and in this area, is shelters. About 85 percent of the cats are euthanized in local pounds. 

For decades animal control agencies and shelters have practiced the idea of catching and killing feral (wild) cats as a population control method that has proven to be pointless. Why, you might ask — because it makes sense to remove the cats and be done with it? To quote Dr. Phil, how is it working for you? Do you still have cats reproducing in your neighborhoods? We estimate there are 11,000 free roaming cats in the city.

Because of something called the vacuum affect, the habitat that is emptied through killing or relocation will soon see an influx of new cats or the ones left behind, that didn’t get caught, will soon reproduce at an alarming rate to compensate for the removed cats. The habitats occupied by these colonies of cats can support a given population size. No matter how many are removed, if the resources are still available the population will eventually recover.

If catching and killing them does nothing to solve the problem, what can you do? There is a proven program called Trap, Neuter and Return (TNR) that will control and stabilize the given population in an area. The cats that have been altered will no longer reproduce and they will protect the habitat and environment from other cats. As a result, through natural attrition the cat colony will die out over time.

If all you are currently doing is bringing kittens to your local shelter year after year, then you are also doing nothing to solve the problem. You may think you are helping but in the end you will continue to bring in kittens and cats/kittens will continue to die at an alarming rate.

There are many places to seek resources if you need help. Contact your local humane society or spay/neuter clinic and see if they provide discounted spay/neuter services for feral cats and/or stray cats. For instance, the Lynchburg Humane Society received a grant from PetSmart Charities to spay and neuter 2,000 cats this year for free in the city of Lynchburg within certain ZIP codes. We are calling it the City Cat Fix. Along with this we will be having a feral/free roaming cat clinic beginning this summer where we will do a high number of them at one time.

South Central Spay/Neuter Clinic in Evington provides low cost spay/neuter services for all the surrounding counties. Bedford Humane Society has a feral cat program. There are groups in Roanoke and Charlottesville that also have resources you can take advantage of, including free spay/neuter. Voices for Animals is a wonderful resource along with Alley Cat Allies at www.alleycat.org.

To use the famous quote from Albert Einstein, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Let’s not be insane. Let’s stop the cycle we have started and begin anew with TNR.