Home » News » Oakville Trap/Neuter/Return Project Triumphs...

News

Oakville Trap/Neuter/Return Project Triumphs

April 02, 2009, 6:31PM MT

By Denise A LeBeau

Town gets on board to help community cats

Town gets on board to help community cats

In the beginning of March, a five day trap/neuter/return project descended on the town of Oakville, Iowa. Iowa Humane Alliance led the charge with backing from Best Friends Animal Society; the goal was simple - to spay and neuter as many cats as possible. Since the flood waters of last year helped expose the community cat crisis of the area, animal organizations and the public have joined forces to solve the problem.

Stacy Dykema, Nancy Hodges (colony manager), Blount, and Ashley Moore trap, transport and track

By using over 193 volunteer man-hours, all of the free roaming feline residents of Oakville were fixed. The surgeries included 31 spays, 17 neuters and one particularly prolific pooch. With under a dozen unaltered cats left in the town, Blount and her colleagues are working with the local veterinarians to get them fixed. Spay Iowa has offered to pay for the remaining procedures.

“The townspeople were so supportive! Many individuals were asking about specific cats – they wanted to know that the operations were successful and that the kitties would be returning to their rightful homes,” shared Mary Blount, executive director of Iowa Humane Alliance.

Mary Blount and Moore checking in cats for transport

All in all it was the collaboration that helped make this so successful. There were also new Board Members lending a hand to the project: acting as veterinary technicians, no task was too great or small! Janet Ashman and Mary Trachsel were in the surgery room helping out and Blount is just ecstatic to have so many dedicated people onboard.

Then there were the never-say-die volunteers who showed up. Christina Wilkin was a tireless trapper, and was indispensable to the success of the project. Another savior came in the form of Stacy Dykema, who provided transportation and the feral boxes that helped move the cats safely.

Johnson County Humane Society also donated 15 new cat shelters to Oakville. They made the cost effective shelters from instructions supplied by Alley Cat Allies.

Dykema and Blount transferring a cat from a trap to a feral box

Now that all the Oakville community cats will be litter-free, it’s time for Blount and her colleagues to shift their focus to the follow-ups and beyond. Ensuring that the caregivers are getting the support they need and that if any intact cats show up, they too will be spayed and neutered.

The beyond entails getting Cedar Rapids the help they need! Over 500 free roaming cats have been identified in the city and Iowa Humane Alliance is spearheading the program to get ordinances changed to help support TNR and get feral cat colonies registered and the caregivers set up to do it all the right way!

Get Involved!
For information about Iowa Humane Alliance and how you can get involved, please email volunteer@iowahumanealliance.org
*please note their website is currently under construction, but should go live in the near future

You can send donations to:
Iowa Humane Alliance
PO Box 5292
Coralville, IA 52241-5292

Support the Best Friends Feral Cat Program: click here to make a donation.

Learn more about how you can help community cats in your area by joining the Feral Cat Campaign on the Best Friends Network.

by Denise LeBeau, Best Friends staff
photos courtesy of Tyler Blount

Comments

Posted April 07, 2009, 11:54AM by crazysleepingcatlady

I, too, much prefer the term "Community Cats"....

To the citizens of Oakville, you rock! Thank you for showing the rest of the country that TNR DOES work and for embracing this technique totally. Oakville, you have made us very proud.

There are humane solutions and I'm thrilled that the word is starting to get out there............

I wish you continued success with this program and I truly hope this is an incentive for other communities to get on board as well.

Kudos to everyone involved in this!

Posted April 06, 2009, 8:17PM by georgebailey47

Way to go Iowa!!

Iowa is doing great with their recent compassionate decisions.

First, the Mayor of a small town there (Randolph?) saw that TNR is the only effective and only compassionate way to deal with things and he now supports TNR, and now this!

Keep up the great work, Iowa!

I agree with the other poster.... cats who live outdoors are Community Cats, they are part of the community, and deserve the same freedom to live, love and to be loved, as any other member of the community does.

Isnt it great how we CAN indeed, all find a way to live together, when we choose to?

It's how things were meant to be: Love and respect all life.

Everybody wins.

Posted April 06, 2009, 1:41PM by Felis_sapien

Iowa is on lighting up for TNR. And I love the term "community cats" rather than strays or allies or ferals.