Local organizations to invest nearly $30,000 to address stray/roaming cat problem
CHILLICOTHE -- Cats & Company and the Ross County Humane Society are launching the Chillicothe Cat Project.
The project, which will be managed by the Ross County Humane Society, is a TNR (trap, neuter, release) program with the goal of cutting down on the number of stray and roaming cats in the city of Chillicothe. The project aims to sterilize 500+ roaming and feral cats in the upcoming year.
A $15,000 investment from the City of Chillicothe and a $10,000 investment from the Ross County Humane Society will fund the program in addition to donated/discounted veterinary services provided by North Fork Animal Clinic.
Trapping will begin in a few weeks and both Cats & Company and the Ross County Humane Society are actively seeking volunteers and community support in order to efficiently utilize this opportunity to benefit the cats in the community. A grid of the city will be made and target known feral colonies first, followed by colonies reported by the public needing assistance.
There are currently an estimated 1,000 stray/roaming cats within Chillicothe.
All cats will be humanely trapped, sterilized, ear-tipped, and returned to their colonies.
The community is advised that if they have indoor/outdoor cats who are trapped, they will be sterilized, ear-tipped, and returned to the area where they were trapped.
The idea of trap, neuter, and release is that sterilized cats can no longer reproduce and over time, the number of feral cats in a community will decrease. Cats can start having litters as young as 5 months old, having 3-4 litters each year, with each litter having 5-6 kittens each litter, meaning just one female stray unsterilized cat can have up to 24 offspring in just their first year of life. TNR programs are an effective method to end that cycle.
Executive Director of the Ross County Humane Society, Jenn Thomas, states, “We’ve been helping cats on a small scale for many years, even though we do not house them in our dog-only facility. We are very excited to be able to provide support and funding for this large-scale TNR program for the community and hope it helps control the stray/feral population in Chillicothe, which so many citizens have reported to be a problem.”
Bethany Snowden, Founder and Director of Cats & Company says, “We cannot adopt our way out of our current cat overpopulation problem. We quite literally have to FIX it, one cat at a time. We are excited to be able to provide care and support for our community’s cats while we continue to raise funds and rehabilitate our catfe/adoption center which is located in the heart of Historic Downtown Chillicothe.”
The community may reach out to Cats & Company to volunteer to assist with the program, to report a feral colony, or for any questions. They may be reached by emailing info@catsandcompany.org.
If you would like to make a financial contribution towards this program you can do so by reachingout to Ross County Humane Society. Contact: Jenn Thomas, Executive Director, Ross County Humane Society, 2308 Lick Run Road, Chillicothe OH 45601
This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Local organizations to invest nearly $30,000 to address stray/roaming cat problem
