“Studies have shown that food bans just don’t work and it’s not a humane option,” she said.
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Neighbors have complained for years of feral cats getting into garbage and damaging property, Bellefontaine city leaders have said. Hillery estimated that thousands of stray cats roam through the area.
Hillery presented her plan to the Bellefontaine City Council to trap stray cats, get them spayed or neutered at local clinics, and return them to where they were found. They convinced city council members to drop their plans to ban feeding stray cats.
Instead the Bellefontaine City Council members passed a resolution to give the group permission to address the problem in the city, she said, and has been supportive ever since.
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“It might not seem like much but 150 cats equates to millions of prevented litters,” she said.
Now the group is made up of six women, she said, who share the responsibilities necessary to make it function. It operates with the use of donations from the community and the group has already held multiple fundraisers, raising about $4,000.
“It’s a very good start. But it’s only a start,” she said. “So we are going to keep going and keep continuing as long as the funds keep coming.”
The cats are taken to the Champaign County Animal Welfare League in Mechanicsburg and the His Hands Extended Sanctuary in St. Paris for the surgeries.
Logan County TNR also fosters kittens found on the street, Vice President Ronie Lile said, until homes can be found for them.
“We are making a difference,” Lile said.
The city has been impressed with the impact he group has had so quickly, Mayor Ben Stahler said.
“We feel blessed there’s an amazing group of volunteers that are not only doing this on their own money, they’re out raising money in the community to support this effort,” Stahler said.
The group’s ultimate goal is to fill the void that’s been left in the community by the closure of the Humane Society Serving Logan County earlier this year.
“We’d like to be able to get strong enough and get up there enough to where we can find a building and start doing our own clinic work,” Lile said. “Getting our local veterinarians and doctors involved.”
The group is always in need of donations and volunteers, she said. To contact the Logan County TNR Project go to http://logancountytnr.wixsite.com/logancountytnr or email logancounty.tnrproject@gmail.com.
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