This month, the Phoenix-based nonprofit that works to save homeless pets awarded the grant to the county’s program to spay and neuter free roaming cats. As a pilot program, the county chose Huber Heights and Vandalia because of its persistent cat problems.
“It’s an issue we deal with on a regular basis,” said Emily Haney, Huber Heights community service manager. “We are looking for new solutions.”
In 2009, 441 cats were removed from Huber Heights and nearly 150 from Vandalia and taken to the center, city officials said.
Rich Hopkins, Vandalia’s communications manager, said the county charges the city $60 for every cat it drops off. If the cat is adopted, the city receives $15 back. “Anytime someone else wants to help (Vandalia) with their money, it’s good,” he said.
PetSmart’s grant should help curtail the cities’ stray cat problem, said spokeswoman Michelle Thompson.
64% of Resource Center’s animals are euthanized
One of the charity’s goals is to decrease the number of homeless animals subjected to euthanasia in the United States, she said.
In 2009, the Resource Center euthanized about 6,000 animals, or 64 percent of all its animals, said Director Mark Kumpf. PetSmart notes about 4 million animals are put down annually nationwide.
Thompson said Montgomery County received the grant to develop a comprehensive “trap-neuter-return” program to reduce the number of stray cats in the area. She added that the “trap-neuter-return” program was specifically developed for cats that live in colonies and do not have homes.
The center will capture stray cats, spay or neuter them and return them to the outdoors, Thompson said.
The center receives about 3,000 stray cats per year from its eight participating municipalities — that include also Brookville, Germantown, Kettering, Miamisburg, Union and West Carrollton.
Prior to receiving the grant, the center operated under a trap and hold program, where stray cats were held for two days in case an owner claimed them. If they were not claimed, they would be introduced into the shelter system either to be adopted or euthanized, Kumpf said.
Cat owners eligible for grant project
He said the center will spay or neuter cats if referrals come from owners with large litters, city officials or Montgomery County Animal Care and Control officers on patrol who see a large number of cats.
“We are primarily looking at community cats,” Kumpf said. “The ones that people feed outdoors, but don’t claim and the barn cats in the agricultural community.”
The problem with the center’s current stray cat policy is that most cat owners do not start looking for their missing cats for an entire week, so the redemption rate for stray cats is very low, he said.
Although cat adoption is an option for unclaimed cats, it does not help with the number of cats still coming to the center.
“Adoption can’t get us out of the problem of having too many pets,” Thompson said. “(Spaying and neutering) will make a big difference in the communities.”
The grant money will cover education and outreach about the program, start-up costs and supplies to spay and neuter, Kumpf said.
“This program is not designed for feral cat control,” he said. “It’s a safety net for the community and the cats. We aren’t going to just pick cats up off the street.”
Although details are still being finalized, Kumpf said if all goes well, the center hopes to expand the program to cover all eight of its jurisdictions.
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