Non-profit works to ‘fix’ feral-cat problem
Group’s efforts have cut community’s feline numbers by half since launch of program in 2013
It’s taken four years of hard work, but a small non-profit society has almost stabilized the feral- and straycat population in and around the northern B.C. community of Burns Lake.
Community cats, which include both feral and stray cats, have long been a problem in the Lakes District, said Alistair Schroff, a volunteer with the Lakes Animal Friendship Society.
“It was kind of a classic situation,” Schroff said. “The refrain was, ‘Somebody should do something about that,’ but who’s the somebody and what is the something? That never really materialized.”
The society became that “somebody” in 2013, after it received a grant from the B.C. SPCA to start a trap, neuter, return program.
The group has focused on eight to 10 community cat colonies in and around Burns Lake. When they started their program, Schroff estimates that there were around 400 cats living in the wild in the Lakes District, with the largest cat colony numbering 100 felines.
They sterilized 400 cats in 2013 and 2014, a further 40 cats in 2015 and about a dozen in 2016. This year, the goal is to fix 30 cats before Dec. 31.
The group uses humane traps to capture the cats, then delivers them to Burns Lake Veterinary Clinic. The clinic covers part of the cost of spaying or neutering the cats and gives them vaccinations. After about a day of recuperation, the cats are released to their colonies. Their left ears are “tipped” so volunteers can easily tell which cats have been to the vet and which are new.
Schroff said the society also makes sure the cat communities are taken care of, with people feeding, sheltering and keeping an eye on them.
“It’s not an easy life. We try to take care of them, but they’re still out in the open,” he said.
Since the program began, the community cat population has been cut in half.
“It’s been really gratifying,” said Schroff. “You don’t have to just ignore the problem and wait for it go to away.”
Amy Morris, public policy and outreach manager for the B.C. SPCA, said the SPCA gives out about $100,000 per year in grants for spay and neuter programs run by smaller groups. The program began in 2013.
“It really is the community partners who can do a significant amount of work to make change in their own communities, but they need the funds to do so,” Morris said.
“Lakes Animal Friendship Society is one of the most amazing rescue groups and animal-welfare groups in our province.”
The society has received about $50,000 in SPCA grants since 2013, with most of the money coming in the first two years. It also receives monetary help from the Mother Millie Fund, which supports vet treatment for stray cats and injured animals.
“It’s been a huge turning point for the community and honestly without that funding support we would not have been able to make it happen,” said Schroff.
Morris said the goal of the grants is to reduce the population of community animals to the point that local organizations can manage them on their own. “It’s basically to create a sustainable, community-driven option,” she said.
Morris said people often see cats as wild animals and don’t feel responsible for spaying and neutering them. The benefits of sterilizing community cats, other than reducing the population, include limiting cat-roaming, reducing the number of fights they get into, and by extension the injuries they sustain, and helping them to keep weight on.
“They generally are healthier cats and there aren’t animals being born outside suffering,” she said.