Certain asocial felines in the community will be out roaming free at the behest of the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri. They recently announced that they will no longer be taking feral cats from the city’s animal control agency.
Executive director Tracy Poston says the decision comes as they no longer want to euthanize the high number feral cats that come into their care. The choice to euthanize the animals typically results from the inability for humans to interact with the critters, who do not like to be touched, held, or helped in any way.
“The last thing they want to be is in a crate, in a cage, or in a trap,” says Poston. “So you’re really limited, then, once they’re in that trap as to what you can do with them.”
In April, she says the city brought the humane society 25 feral cats in the span of a week and a half, which they were unprepared to deal with. The organization has not been euthanizing cats for a couple of years, says Poston, but once the city began bringing in the large number of cats, they decided they wouldn’t be “able” to do so.
“We do not want to use euthanasia as a means for patrolling the feral cat or commuity cat population,” she says.
Poston says southeast Missouri’s feral cat problem is a “community issue,” and the public needs to take steps to address that population. To do that, she recommends catching the feral cats in traps, and having them spayed or neutered at a veterinarian. Afterwards, they can then be released back into the wild.