Good News for Feral Cats Columbus Animal Care and Control
Center recently received a $58,250 grant from PetSmart. Funds will spay/neuter 1,000 feral cats and provide funds to re- duce the cat euthanasia rate. After falling just short of a major PetS-
mart Charities, Inc. grant earlier this year, the organization invited Animal Care and Control Center (ACCC) to apply for a sec- ond $58,250 grant. “PetSmart Charities was impressed with our Save A Pet pro- gram and the dramatic positive results we have seen since implementing that pro- gram,” said Drale Short, Special Enforce- ment Division director. Under the Save A Pet program, the ACCC euthanasia rate has dropped from 80 percent of animals re- ceived in 2010, to 64 percent in 2010, and
to 52 percent in 2012. “When we came in second place on the
$1 million PetSmart grant earlier this year, they immediately said ‘we want to find a way to work with Columbus’. Fortunately, this grant opportunity came along”, ex- plained Short.
The $58,250 grant will pay for approx-
imately 1,000 feral cats to be spayed or neutered. There will also be monies to pur- chase equipment for the trapping of the feral cats and for education and marketing. Feral cats suffer the highest percentage eu- thanasia rate because they constitute the largest population challenge of all stray or abandoned animals. “Cats that are not spayed or neutered and then become lost
rescues continued
or abandoned quickly procreate,” said Pat Biegler, director of Public Works who over- sees Special Enforcement and ACCC. “Feral cat colonies are established through- out our community. If we don’t get a handle on it quickly, we can have 50, 60, 70 cats in one colony. At that point, it becomes a nuisance to neighbors and businesses nearby and none of that bodes well for the animals. Roughly, 67 percent of the cats we take in have to be put down because the population far exceeds adoption demand and because many of the cats have be- come diseased or injured in the wild. We can do much better than the 67 percent rate if we address the over-population issue through a good spay and neuter program. This grant allows us to start doing that.”
Izzy, rescued by the Tigner-Venable family
Zoey, rescued by the Tigner-Venable family
Garth, rescued by the Tigner-Venable family
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