Animal Protection and Education (APE) is holding what may be the first of a monthly low cost spay and neuter clinic for cats Saturday, Dec. 6, at the Milwaukee depot in Jefferson.
The clinic is part of a larger trap-neuter-return project to deal with a colony of wild cats living north of the Sparky’s on Highway 30 in Jefferson.
APE executive director Linn Price is organizing the T-N-R project. According to Price, between 16 and 20 cats live there. The cats have food and water so they stay and do what cats do – they reproduce. A nearby resident called a PAWS volunteer because she was concerned about the cats’ welfare. The PAWS volunteered Price because of her expertise with T-N-R.
Volunteers plan to set traps for the cats on Friday, Dec. 5. They’ll spend the day there, watching the traps, and as each cat is captured, it will be taken to a garage where the cats will spend Friday night. Clinic time will start Saturday morning. After the cats are altered and vaccinated, they’ll be taken back to the garage for Saturday night and then released back where they came from Sunday.
The schedule should allow time for other cats to be altered. The clinic price ($40 per tom, $50 per queen) will be available to anyone who brings in three or more barn or feral cats. Pre-registration is required. Visit www.goape.info to register or call 515-460-7729. Online registration is preferred.
The upcoming T-N-R project is similar to a project done in Paton a few years ago, Price said. Paton used to be overrun with wild cats; now there are only a few.
APE is covering the cost of the surgeries with financial help from PAWS. APE is asking help from the animal-loving public to help sponsor the cost. Anyone who would like to help can send a check to APE, PO Box 65, Paton, IA 50217. Price asks that sponsors write “Sparky’s” or “Jefferson T-N-R” on the memo line.
Price said that after the holidays a low cost spay/neuter clinic will likely be held at the depot on a monthly basis. Watch GreeneCountyNewsOnline for dates.
