Berks County has a feral cat problem. The problem begins when irresponsible owners allow their cats who are neither spayed or neutered to wander outside. The outcome can and is unwanted cats already added to a saturated cat population.
Some of these cats have the luxury of having the privelege to go home again while others are forced to live their the remainder of their lives outside. Once these cats become acclimated to the outdoors, most become feral. A feral cat is a descendent of a domesticated cat that has returned to the wild. It is NOT the same as a stray cat.
Feral cats are not normally approachable and don’t wish to be indoors. Stray cats tend to approach people. Once feral cats procreate, the kittens can be removed (in time) to become socialized and adoptable. If not, they, too will live a life as their parents have.
A feral cat colony (clowder) is a population of feral cats. Berks County has them and many caring people are taking care to make sure they are spayed and neutered so they don’t produce more unwanted cats. But, herein lies the problem: how do we reduce the numbers of feral cats as they continue to reproduce?
Any feral cat that is taken to the Humane Society of Berks County is not accepted and directed to the Animal Rescue League of Berks County where their destiny of death awaits them.
A Trap-Neuter-Return Campaign is underway in Berks County.
Tune in next Wednesday at 6:30 PM on BCTV to find out what this campaign is and what the goals are for this huge undertaking. My guest will be Martha Kahan, President of No Nonsense Neutering (NNN) who is heading up the TNR campaign in alliance with the Fairchild Foundation. NNN has sterilized over 15,000 cats since they started this endeavor in 2008. Find out what a group of caring people are doing to help the feral cats of Berks County.
This is live, call-in program. Please feel free to call during the show at 610-378-0426 or streamline it live at BCTV. You can also email me at tevangelistaepp@yahoo.com with any questions or comments.