Hernando County will soon be starting a trap-neuter-return program to help control the feral cat population.
- Feral cats will be spayed, neutered, returned to location
- Hope is that more people will bring stray cats into animal services
- County ordinance will be adjusted
County commissioners unanimously voted in favor of the program on Tuesday.
Feral cats picked up by animal services will be spayed or neutered and then returned to where they came from, rather than having to euthanize them in some cases when the shelter is overcrowded.
Hernando County Animal Services is partnering with PetLuv Nonprofit Spay and Neuter Clinic and the Humane Society of the Nature Coast to make the program happen. The hope is that more people will bring stray cats into animal services.
"If they care about the cats enough to feed them, they are very unlikely to call and take them to animal services and be euthanized," said Hernando County Animal Services Director James Terry. "So what happens is then they don't get them spayed and neutered, either, so it just continues to go and go, and go and the population grows and grows and grows."
Terry said he feels this program will be the best way to reduce the feral cat population, stressing that euthanasia does not work.
He also said while commissioners have approved the project, he is now working to adjust a county ordinance before it goes into effect.