MAYVILLE, N.Y. — The Village of Mayville has taken a new step to try and get its feral cat population under control, as efforts by a local animal sanctuary to trap, spay/neuter, and release adults continue.
"If you're here at night you will see cats wandering everywhere," said Alisha Briggs with the Little Angels Animal Sanctuary.
Briggs' organization has been working to reduce the population of adult feral cats in the village and has been contracted to run a humane, TNR program in Mayville.
"Well, you'll see one or two. Then you'll see another one, and another one, they'll be under the bushes, on the sidewalks," said Laura Marsala a Mayville resident.
Marsala, Briggs, and plenty of passersby described how spots like the parking lot of the Tops Supermarket on South Erie Avenue and the M&T bank branch next door become feline stomping grounds at dawn and dusk. Like most feral cat populations Briggs said this one started and continues because people are feeding the animals.
To address the issue, during their September board meeting, the Village of Mayville unanimously passed a Community Cat Ordinance.
"We're getting lots of calls, to find them homes or to take them in, but the way to address this is not just to take the kittens, but take steps to fix the adults that are producing the kittens," Briggs said, which is where TNR comes in.
Between July 2021 and September 2022, Briggs reported that Little Angels Animal Sanctuary has taken care of over two hundred feral cats in the Village of Mayville, including forty-three this summer. About fifty of those cats have been released after being, spayed, or neutered. The cats are also vaccinated and to identify them, their ears are clipped.
While feral cats are too wild to adopt, trapped kittens can be patched up and adopted.
Briggs added, "The population is reducing, it's not a quick fix, it takes time... but eventually, they live our their lives without producing 100s upon 100s of kittens every year."
The village's cat ordinance which was passed for health and safety reasons provides additional support for groups like Little Angels Animal Sanctuary but also regulates TNR practices.
"It also gives out guidelines about community cats and participating in TNR so that people aren't just feeding the cats without a plan," Briggs said.
Because while neighbors may be well-intentioned, countless kittens can quickly grow into a much larger although lovable nuisance.
RELATED: