3 agencies team up to control growing cat population

Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Fran Henry, Plain Dealer Reporter

When a cat's daily schedule of activities is interrupted, there'd better be a good reason. For Mittens -- a black cat with, of course, white paws -- the payoff was substantial.

Yesterday, as he became the 5,000th patient of Petfix Northeast Ohio, a mobile low-cost spay and neuter clinic, the leaders of three animal welfare agencies announced programs to bring Cleveland's cat overpopulation under control.

Petfix will spend 20 days between now and July at the Cleveland Animal Protective League altering 400 feral cats and cats of low-income Cleveland residents.

On Saturday, Jan. 26, the APL will open a low-cost spay and neuter clinic for animal welfare agencies and people managing feral, or wild, colonies. Cleveland Dog Warden John Baird plans to launch a trap-neuter-release cat control program when he can find a veterinarian to perform the surgeries.

Petfix's project will prevent, by conservative estimates, as many as 4,000 unwanted kittens from being born this year alone, according to Petfix founder and president Timy Sullivan.

APL Executive Director Sharon Harvey said she joined the agency in May with hopes of tackling cat overpopulation. The county has about 225,000 feral cats, with 75,000 in Cleveland. "There are way too many animals out there who need our help," she said.

The three agencies aim to alter 70 percent of Cleveland's cats, both owned and feral, in six years. That's the "magic number" deemed necessary to reach equilibrium between cat population and pet owners, Sullivan said.

The APL clinic startup is being funded by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Ferry Family Foundation and the Kenneth A. Scott Charitable (KeyBank) Trust. The Billie Howland Steffee Family Fund of the Cleveland Foundation is helping with the Cleveland Cats Project.

To schedule a cat for surgery through the Cleveland Cats Project, call the APL at 216-377-1633 or the kennel at 216-644-2759. Kittens as young as 8 weeks and weighing 2 pounds are eligible for surgery. The price is $20 for a neuter and $30 for a spay. All feral cat surgeries cost $30. Owners must show proof of low income. Feral cat caregivers do not. APL fees are $5 more.

By the way, Mittens' owners thought he was a she. The truth was discovered by veterinarian Jo Byron.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:  fhenry@plaind.com, 216-999-4806

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