Still more can be done
~by Linn Price, Founder/director, A.P.E.
The Animal Protection and Education Charity (APE) of Paton has been helping area communities with free roaming cat populations. On Aug. 14, the chief of police in Manson arranged to have some cats in that community brought to an APE mobile clinic. The cats were spayed/neutered, vaccinated, and microchipped, along with being treated for parasites. The Calhoun County animal control officer along with the Manson chief of police made arrangements for the cats to be re-homed to farm families after their vet care.
In mid-September, APE was contacted by the city clerk of Redfield. The city has a building slated to be torn down, but staff had concerns for several free roaming cats living in the building. APE traveled to Redfield on Sept. 25 with its Mobile Veterinary Unit (MVU) and vetted 24 cats for the city of Redfield. Again, the city and some local animal welfare volunteers were able to network the cats to caring farm homes after they recovered from their vet work.
APE has been hearing that people in the Rushview area of Jefferson have been trapping cats and “taking them to the farm.” APE reminds people that dumping cats in the country is not only immoral, as the cat has no idea where to find shelter or food in a strange area, or how to watch out and avoid predators, it is illegal to abandended animals in Iowa! If they are truly taking the cats to a farm, it will only be a matter of time before the “farm” is over-populated with cats.
Luckily, some concerned citizens living in Jefferson have been helping free-roaming cats in town. In late August, a citizen worked with APE to get a family of cats near the town square vetted and rehomed. The citizen contacted all businesses in the area to ensure the cats were not owned cats. People for Animal Welfare (PAWS) was also contacted to ensure the cats were not owned. The momma cat and her fall litter, along with her tom-cat partner and a spring kitten were all vetted. All of the cats were able to find farm homes with the exception of the spring kitten that found a housecat home.
In mid-September, another Jefferson resident sponsored an alley cat to be neutered. The cat is a young tom cat that hangs around her neighborhood. Funding to sponsor this cat came from the resident and from a donation from Help The Animals (HTA). HTA is a non-profit from Des Moines that offers donor funds to those needing help spaying and neutering dogs and cats. The resident stated she doesn’t mind the cat hanging around, she just didn’t want any fighting or spraying once he reaches maturity.
APE is appreciative to all of those making the right choice, the humane choice by doing Trap-Neuter-Return (and in some cases re-homing instead of returning). Together we can control the free-roaming cat population of towns here in Iowa, humanely. If you know of someone feeding or caring for a free-roaming cat colony please tell them about APE. We, APE, can’t help the cats without your help. Please consider a tax deductible donation. Your donation is what keeps our prices low.
