PAWS of Muskingum County is Working to Mitigate Feral Cat Population

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – Members of one area organization are in the
process of furthering their mission to control the feral cat
population in Muskingum County. PAWS of Muskingum County has
implemented a new strategy to spay and neuter area feral cats in
order to mitigate the rapidly growing population and accompanying
health concerns. Teresa Hildebrand, with PAWS, says members are
broadening their horizons.

“In the past,
we’ve always been concentrating on low-income housing and such—and
people who need help to get their animals spayed and neutered. We’re
branching out this year because we’re noticing when we get into
these neighborhoods that there’s a great deal of feral cats—and
what we call ‘community cats’ or just ‘stray cats’; the ones
that everybody feeds…but nobody owns.”

While feeding stray
cats is a kindhearted gesture, it can cause the cat population to
grow if the animals are physically capable of reproducing. PAWS is
now utilizing a strategy called TNR.

“They don’t
realize that when they feed the cats—and you don’t spay and
neuter them, it’s like throwing gasoline on a fire. They are going
to multiply out of control; and then you get into disease issues and
overcrowding—and all of this other stuff. We’re looking to expand
our program and start a TNR—that is trap, neuter, and release.
Basically, the animals stay in their community. We will trap them,
take them in, get them neutered, re-release them.”

While PAWS of
Muskingum County has already neutered and spayed a plethora of cats
through their fundraising efforts, there is still more work to be
done and financial and volunteer support is needed. To volunteer to
trap or transport cats—or to donate funding or sponsor a Spay Day
Event, contact PAWS at 740-221-7278.