Initiative
kicks off July 26 with free training class at Southfield P&R Building
The
city of Southfield will hold an informational training meeting on Tuesday, July
26 at 6 p.m. in room 221 of the Southfield Parks & Recreation building for
Southfield residents to kick-off the Southfield Feral Cat Trap, Neuter & Return
(TNR) Program.
The
TNR program is funded through a PetSmart Charities grant
that is administered by Oakland County and the Michigan Pet Fund Alliance to address
the overpopulation of feral cat colonies throughout Oakland County. The city of
Southfield will be a pilot community to train and equip Southfield residents to
trap feral cats that are then spayed or neutered, vaccinated for rabies, ear
tagged and returned to their colonies. All About Animals veterinary clinic of
Warren has been contracted to sterilize and vaccinate the cats for $10 each in
addition to providing the traps and conducting the required training class. Residents
interested in volunteering as colony managers must attend the mandatory TNR
training class on July 26 from 6-8 p.m. at the Southfield Parks &
Recreation building. Participants will learn how to safely and effectively
trap, transport, feed and manage feral cat colonies. Volunteers must agree to
manage a colony in the city of Southfield for a period of two years while
providing adequate food, water and shelter, and maintaining a database about
the colony. The city of Southfield has established a fund of $3,000 from which
participating residents will be reimbursed the $10 sterilization fee up to a
total of
$200 (or 20 cats at $10) for each colony manager that
provides sterilization documentation to the City’s Neighborhood and Information
Center. Southfield’s Almost Home Animal Shelter will also be offering resident
participants food for the feral cats at a discounted rate at their shelter located
at 25503 Clara Lane.
An effective trap-neuter-release program has been shown to
reduce not only cat colony populations, but also communicable illnesses and the
number of cats taken to already overwhelmed animal shelters. The program also
improves feral cats’ behavior (fighting and mating issues) and their overall
lives and relations with the community.
To register (or for more information), call Terry Case,
Southfield Neighborhood Specialist, at (248) 796-5141 or e-mail tcase@cityofsouthfield.com by July 25.