| The Welfare of Animals Group [WAG] is asking for Calhoun County residents to help us address a long-observed problem with our animal community - feral or community cats. If you feed a feral cat colony in your neighborhood, or know someone who does, please call Linda at 304-354-7506 or notify us via our email calhounwag@yahoo.com
Our humane and effective Trap-Neuter-Return [TNR] program's volunteers will live trap the cats, take them to the vet to be spayed or neutered, vaccinated for rabies, respiratory disease, worms, and fleas, and returned them to their outdoor home, at no cost to the colony's caretaker. The colony will be healthier and no longer producing unwanted kittens.
At four months old a female kitten can start breeding, and can have 2 or 3 litters per year. Removing cats from an area (i.e. catching and killing) is useless. When cats are removed from an area, then new, unsterilized cats move in to take advantage of available resources and begin reproducing. This well-documented natural trend is known as the "vacuum effect." Trap-Neuter-Return stops the breeding cycle and eliminates mating behaviors, such as yowling, spraying, roaming, and fighting. Trap-Neuter-Return also benefits public health because community cats are vaccinated against rabies.
There is three months of good weather left this year, so please contact WAG soon to help with a colony. |
