Got Cats?

Chances are you have seen homeless cats (called ferals) roaming your neighborhood. You may even be feeding them. If so, you are not alone. All over Austin, the country, and in cities around the world people have become attached to these wild creatures. Feral cats are born wild, have never been a pet, and cannot be tamed after they mature. Colonies develop when an unsterilized pet cat is left behind after a move and begins breeding with other cats, both wild and tame. The kittens, having no human interaction, are wild feral cats. They breed and so the cycle begins. It is estimated there are roughly 150,000 feral cats living in Austin.

The Spay Austin Coalition, a group of citizens in Austin, TX along with Animal Trustees of Austin, Austin Humane Society, Austin Pets Alive!, Town Lake Animal Center, ShadowCats, EmanciPet, participating veterinarians at Feathers and Fur Animal Hospital, Century Animal Hospital, Manchaca Village Veterinary Clinic, and Brodie Animal Hospital got together in 2003 to address the problem of stray/feral cat colonies. These are groups of homeless cats, some of whom were abandoned, some of whom were born wild, living in a territory in Austin neighborhoods. These are animals that, with few exceptions, are euthanized at Town Lake Animal Center because they are wild and not suitable as pets.

Over 13,000 animals (62% of intake) are killed every year at Town Lake Animal Center because of overpopulation. The Spay Austin Coalition began a citywide effort to trap, spay or neuter, vaccinate, and release these cats back into their normal habitats. The practice, known as T-N-R, is widely advocated as the most effective method of population control. By returning the cats after they have been sterilized, they continue to occupy their territory without breeding, reducing the number of kittens, and discouraging new cats from coming in and taking over the territory.

Feral cat colony caregivers manage colonies all over the city by providing basic necessities like food, clean water, and shelter as well as making sure the cats are spayed or neutered. Kittens under 10 weeks are taken into foster care, socialized, and adopted into permanent homes as pets. The Spay Austin Coalition organized the sterilization of over 600 feral cats in 2004, over 700 in 2005 and continues with the goal of organizing colony managers and trappers, lending traps, providing education, advice, and resources to continue this trend.

We are hoping to enlist the aid of community leaders all over Austin to help us identify the locations of the colonies, provide any resources necessary to the colony managers, and most importantly, spay or neuter all the cats. With your help the city of Austin can utilize our tax dollars on something other that killing. January is Spay/Neuter Awareness Month in Austin, and the 27th of February 2007 is the national Spay Day USA.

If you are in Austin and want more information on how The Spay Austin Coalition can help, browse around our website. We look forward to helping you help the cats.