With an estimated 1 million feral cats in greater New York City, a Westchester humane society is seeking help to control the growing population of undomesticated and un-neutered felines in Yonkers.
SPCA Westchester, headquartered in Briarcliff Manor, is looking for volunteers for their ‘Friends of Ferals’ Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program. This free program is available to Yonkers residents who are caring for homeless and feral cats in the community.
Reducing Feral Cat Population
High populations of homeless and feral cats in Yonkers have caused concern for residents for many years. As a recent beneficiary of a substantial grant, SPCA Westchester launched its ‘Friends of Ferals’ initiative to safely and humanely reduce the number of feral cats in the city.
TNR methods of population control use a harmless cage trap to secure the undomesticated cats safely for transport to humane societies, shelters, or veterinary clinics. This safe and accessible method of capture allows volunteer members of the community to help bring animals into the SPCA’s Cody’s Clinic for spaying or neutering, rabies vaccination, and tagging.
Consistent spaying or neutering of feral cats helps prevent the wild kitten population from growing and helps eliminate the needless hunger, disease, and suffering of the feral animals.
Seeking Volunteers in Yonkers
Grant funding for the ‘Friends of Ferals’ initiative has enabled Yonkers to begin combatting the increasing local feral cat population by training community members to identify the homeless animals and humanely trap them. Once the cats have been cared for at SPCA’s Cody’s Clinic, the volunteer trapper will then return them to the location where they were captured and release them. As part of the program, the feral cats will continue to be cared for by members of the community.
Shannon Laukhuf, Executive Director of SPCA Westchester, speaks to the positive benefits of TNR trapping and the cooperation and support of local volunteers.
“We desperately need help with TNR throughout Westchester County. Unfortunately, services for feral cats in areas such as Yonkers, the largest city in our county, are scarce. By offering this service for free, we will make it easier for the public to support TNR, help reduce the number of feral felines living on the streets, and ultimately, reduce the number of homeless cats being brought into area shelters.”
Calling All Cat-Lovers
SPCA Westchester is calling on local residents who love cats to help make their ‘Friends of Ferals’ program a success. They are seeking both experienced feral cat trappers and volunteers interested in learning how to safely and humanely trap. Additional volunteers are needed to provide details of the locations of feral cats and also to help transport trapped cats to SPCA’s Cody’s Clinic and back to their neighborhoods for release.
To discover more about SPCA Westchester’s ‘Friends of Feral’ program and ways you can contribute to this cause, send an email to [email protected] or call (914) 941-2896 extension 131.
