Animalia: Capital Area Humane Society raising money to help feral cats

WEDNESDAY, July 31 — Got some spare cash for a stray cat? The Capital Area Humane Society is accepting donations for its Community Cats Program, which aims to provide residents with the resources for accessible spaying and neutering of feral felines. Donations made by Aug. 1 will be matched thanks to a generous, anonymous offering.   

The Community Cats Program started in 2018 in response to the overpopulation of feral cats in the Lansing area. Its initiative is to supply residents with free equipment and assistance to capture feral cats to be spayed and neutered. Holly Thoms, director of the Spay and Neuter Clinic, said the goal is to keep the program free to encourage people to do “a good deed.”  

“People often don’t want to donate for these animals because they are unfriendly,” she said about the unsocialized feral cats.  

The program ensures when residents complain about a nearby feral cat, they will have the resources, such as traps, to capture the cats and take them to the Spay and Neuter Clinic to be sterilized for free.   

After the surgery, the Humane Society believes in returning the animals to their original territory. This tactic is commonly referred to as TNR or Trap-Neuter-Return.  

According to the Community Cats Program, the “feline overpopulation problem is skyrocketing.” The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals estimates that 3.4 million cats enter animal shelters — 1.4 million end up euthanized — every year.   

Thoms said her goal is to not kill feral cats, as it does not solve overpopulation and only contributes to the “Vacuum Effect.”  

“You have these open areas of territory where there is a food source,” Thoms said. “It could be rodents or someone feeding the cats in their backyard. So, if you kill the cats there, you are still going to have new cats move in and they aren’t fixed.”  

Thoms added that it’s “nearly impossible” to keep track of the stray and feral cat populations, but noted that there has been a noticeable decline in the past six years of "shelter intake and euthanasia."   

The Community Cat Program will be accepting donations for their fund year-round.  

(To donate to the Community Cat Fund visit http://weblink.donorperfect.com/CommunityCatFund)