OBSERVER photo by Gregory Bacon Pictured is Alisha Briggs and Tim Ross with Little Angels Animal Sanctuary holding a kitten they hope will be adopted and captured in Mayville. The organization catches, vaccinates, repairs and releases feral cats and kittens or, if they are tame, adopting them.
MAYVILLE – A growing problem with wild cats can be addressed later this month.
For the past few months, the Little Angels Animal Sanctuary has visited the Mayville Village Board and discussed the problem of feral cats in the village. The nonprofit is seeking permission to go out on public land to catch, vaccinate, and neuter feral cats, and then release them to where they were captured.
Tim Ross, an attorney who spoke on behalf of Little Angels at the July board meeting, noted that their organization captured 10 adult wildcats and five kittens on private property in a three-block downtown area over one weekend. Seven of the adults were females, one of whom was pregnant at the time.
“We really only scratched the surface” he said.
According to Ross, a female cat generally breeds twice a year and produces three kittens per litter. Before the end of the year, all females from the first litter of kittens can also breed.
Ross also noted that unfixed, unvaccinated cats can also spread many diseases, including rabies. These cats can transmit disease to domestic cats, other pets, or even people.
Along with permission to go on public property, Little Angels is looking for funds. Ross noted that it cost $ 55 for a male and $ 75 for a female to fix a feral cat. Rabies syringes are $ 10 and distemper syringes are $ 10. Treating cats against worms, fleas, and other parasites costs $ 12. There are additional costs if a cat has distemper or feline leukemia before being caught.
Ross believes the village needs to address this.
“It’s not just the pet hazard, it’s not just an aesthetic problem, it’s a public health problem.” he argued. “Whenever you get a complaint about feral cats from a citizen, we call it a notification. You don’t want to be notified and then someone will get rabies. “
Alisha Briggs with Little Angels works with the captured cats. She said that within a few days they can tell if a cat is feral or not. Wild cats cannot be tamed; However, captured kittens have a chance to be trained. They are working to adopt the kittens that are not wild. Feral cats, on the other hand, have their ears pointed and brought back to where they came from.
“Of course, it’s not a perfect solution to catch, vaccinate, neuter and release, but it will reduce the cat population so that it stops growing and growing and growing.” She said.
Little Sanctuary officials said they are unable to keep feral cats, which is why they will be released after they are captured and neutered / neutered. Eventually, the released cats die after being hit by cars or attacked by wild predators. But even if they are not killed, they cannot continue to colonize.
Briggs noted that the wildcat problem in Mayville has grown tremendously. “It’s a hundred times worse than last year. There were four cats in Tops’ parking lot last year. This year I have seven in one picture. “ She said.
Paula Murdock, also from Little Sanctuary, said the method worked well. She shared that Sherman Village had a feral cat problem in 2020. “They gave us $ 900 and helped raise funds at local events. We raised $ 4,000. We fixed 72 cats in 28 days. Sherman has no cat problem this year. “ She said.
Mayor Ken Shearer asked Little Sanctuary representatives to provide written information about their plan and wishes at the next village council meeting, scheduled for August 10th.
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