Feral cat program seeing progress in Pineville

PINEVILLE — The city of Pineville is seeking volunteers, as well as donations, to help with its feral cat program which has just gotten underway.

The program is a plan to address the overpopulation of feral cats in the city by trapping the cats, taking them to a facility to be spayed or neutered at a discounted rate, and returning them to their environment after recovery. The cats also receive rabies shots and medical treatment while in the care of a veterinarian.

After the surgery is done, while the cat is still sleeping, its ear is given a small notch so it can be identified as already spayed or neutered and will not be taken in for surgery again.

City Clerk Melissa Ziemianin said volunteers recently have worked for five days and have trapped 28 cats. She said 15 of the cats were young enough to be tamed and adopted to good homes.

Alderman Becky Davis, one of the volunteers for the program, said that, for every 20 female cats spayed, the number of unwanted, homeless kittens in Pineville is reduced by 300 to 380 per year.

Ziemianin said, “The city is trying to help and give these cats a better chance and not have the reproduction.”

I’m Your Huckleberry Rescue, which is not a cat rescue but a dog rescue, is assisting the city in its efforts.

Two clinics in Arkansas are providing the discounted rates — Spay Arkansas in Springdale and Northwest Arkansas Community Cat Project in Prairie Grove.

Davis said, “Not doing this threatens the town because we’re going to have disease, and we’ve got children in this town.”

She said Pineville has an over abundance of wild skunks, and feral cats must coexist and compete with the skunks for food. Skunks carry rabies, and this leaves unvaccinated feral cats and the city vulnerable to a rabies outbreak that would spread rapidly, she said.

She added, “Many people spend their own time and money feeding the ferals, and that is greatly appreciated, but to really care means doing more. It means helping this program get them to a veterinarian where they do not just get spayed or neutered, but also their health is assessed and they are given antibiotic shots for infections, treated for ear mites and fleas and given the vaccinations they need for a healthy life before being returned to the area they were captured at,” she said.

According to information provided by Davis, this method, called TNR — Trap-Neuter-Return, results in fewer feral cats that will be healthier and will stop having sickly, unwanted kittens and will stop fighting, yowling and spraying.

Ziemianin said anyone who is interested in getting their pet cat spayed or neutered may contact city hall for information. Also, she said if residents have pet cats that wander, they should have them wear a collar or put bright red fingernail polish in an amount the size of a nickel behind their ear so that volunteers for the program can distinguish them from feral cats.

The city is also seeking volunteers and requesting cat food (dry, soft and sardines) and financial assistance. The program can also use old Rubbermaid totes, Davis said.