McKamey Animal Center offers free spaying, neutering for feral cats

In the quarantine room at the McKamey Animal Care and Adoption Center, a sign on a cat's cage warns shelter staff that he is hostile to humans.
In the quarantine room at the McKamey Animal Care and Adoption Center, a sign on a cat's cage warns shelter staff that he is hostile to humans.

The McKamey Animal Center has pledged to reduce the number of feral cats on Chattanooga's streets by offering free spay/neuter services to cat caretakers who trap and care for feral cats here.

The Trap-Neuter-Return program will be open Tuesdays through Fridays. Feral cat caretakers can bring their animals in between 8 and 9 a.m. and pick up the cats later the same day between 4 and 5 p.m.

"We would love to see our veterinary clinic full of cats awaiting spay/neuter. That is the best way to combat overpopulation," Jamie McAloon, the McKamey Animal Center's executive director, said in a news release.

"In 2016 McKamey took in 2,457 cats just from the city alone. In addition, McKamey spayed/neutered hundreds more from the Chattanooga area. We have to be proactive to this age-old problem and we know spay/neuter works to permanently reduce those numbers."

Feral cats live entirely outdoors and, unlike stray cats who were formerly someone's pet, are not socialized to people.

According to information from McKamey, they can be as healthy as cats who live indoors, but they tend to pose a nuisance to communities by overbreeding.

"From May until October, our shelter as well as others are full to capacity with litters of kittens arriving by the minute. Our hope is to see some relief from those box loads and baskets full of kittens arriving daily in an already full shelter," McAloon said.

Cats taken to McKamey must be in a safe trap, not a cat carrier, in order to reduce the risk of bites and scratches. All cats also will be vaccinated for rabies and have their left ear "tipped" to identify them as "fixed" feral cats.

The program is made possible through a grant provided by the Petco Foundation.

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