Community Watchdog

A cat altered at the Animal Lovers League shelter in Glen Cove last week recovers after surgery.

In late December, Ken Robinson asked for help with a feral cat problem in his Lindenhurst neighborhood.

On Feb. 13, 14, 15, volunteers for the Animal Alliance of L.I. and the L.I. Cat Project trapped a dozen feral cats in the area and took them to the Animal Lovers League shelter in Glen Cove as part of the trap-neuter-return program (TNR), which is widely recognized as an effective means of reducing the wild cat population.

Joan Phillips, vice president of the Animal Alliance, said the 12 cats were among 130 altered at the shelter last weekend in recognition of Spay Day USA, an annual campaign by the Humane Society of the United States to help limit the number of feral cats and pets. The cats also were vaccinated and “ear-tipped” for identification.

Phillips explained that while the cat is under anesthesia, “a little piece of the left ear is taken off horizontally. The ear is cauterized [so there’s not bleeding] and then you can tell from a distance the cat has been altered and has had its rabies shot.” She said squaring off very tip of the ear doesn’t hurt the cat and hasn’t discouraged families from adopting feral baby kittens that can be domesticated.

As the cats recover, they’ve been returned to Lindenhurst. “The people who have been feeding them will continue to feed them, but the colony can’t grown in numbers,” Phillips said. If the cats hadn’t been caught and fixed, she said, “lots of unwanted kittens would have been born this spring.”

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In the neighborhood, we have kittens and so many stray cats. Some of my neighbors feed them. They keep having babies. It’s a nuisance having them. They go to the bathroom in the yard. They’re outside in the cold. You feel bad for the animals.

--Ken Robinson, Lindenhurst

It’s not just a Lindenhurst problem.

That’s why the Long Island Cat Project was formed, said Joan Phillips, vice president of the Animal Alliance of Long Island. The cat project Web site, licp.org, promotes the trap-neuter-return (TNR) program to reduce the wild cat population and offers information and resources to anyone who deals with the problem.

The Web site lists volunteer trappers who have formed hubs around Long Island, Phillips said.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Nassau and Suffolk refers calls about feral cats to the cat project Web site.

“None of the town shelters take feral cats. All of the town shelters are overloaded,” said Capt. Robert Aversano of the Suffolk SPCA. “Cats are like rabbits. You start with 10 and end up with 20.”

Phillips said she would reach out to Robinson to help find a volunteer trapper in his area.

“The solution is the TNR program,” she said. “If you can stop them from breeding, you’ll diminish the number of feral cats.”

Photo by Ken Robinson

Also related to this topic:

*Feral Cat Project: “How you can help the cats”
*United Wildlife Control: “Feral Cat Control Tips”