April used to mark the beginning of kitten season at the La Plata County Humane Society, but in recent years its spay and neuter programs have driven a decline in unwanted cats.
High numbers of cats in the shelter can make it tough for the staff to control the spread of disease, especially among young kittens, and cause a space crunch. However, countywide spay and neuter programs making a difference, Director of Animal Services Chris Nelson said.
“It’s been a slow, gradual decline,” he said.
In the past, the shelter was constantly full of cats and the flow of kittens into the shelter was steady, particular while the weather was warm, he said.
For example, one day in June a few years ago the shelter received 44 kittens before noon, he said.
“Fourteen of them were in a box on the doorstep when we got here in the morning,” he recalled.
About six years ago, the Humane Society received a grant to spay and neuter animals in the Bayfield and Ignacio areas because 50 percent of the unwanted animals were coming from those areas. As part of that grant the shelter fixed 660 animals in 18 months and those efforts have continued with monthly low-cost clinics, Nelson said.
In the last six years, the Humane Society has had a 35 percent decline in unwanted animals coming to the shelter, he said.
Bringing in cats from outside the area was “unheard of” at the shelter until four years ago, but at the Adopt-A-Thon on June 5 and 6 almost all the kittens available came from Cortez and Farmington and they were all adopted, he said.
When the shelter brings in cats from other shelters, it’s a process that the shelter can control, as opposed to the flow of local animals.
Cats from other shelters typically are ready for adoption because they are fixed and older than 8 weeks, Nelson said.
When the shelter is caring for many young kittens it can get crowded and controlling the spread of diseases, such as feline leukemia and upper respiratory infections, he said.
A large number of kittens also lowers the chances that adult cats will be adopted, he said.
Spaying and neutering colonies of feral cats across the county has reduced unwanted litters and address problems they can cause, such as attacking domesticated cats.
There are an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 feral cats in the county and they can hurt song bird populations, he said.
In recent years, the shelter has trapped large colonies and fixed all of the cats for free, he said.
Instead of euthanizing individual feral cats brought to the shelter, they are neutered or spayed and the shelter attempts to adopt them out as barn cats, because they can make effective mousers, he said.
Despite recent gains, he expects the flow of kittens into the shelter will pick up during June, July and August.
“I’m not naïve to think we have got the population in balance,” he said.
He encourages anyone who feeds a stray or feral cat on their property to not assume that it has been fixed. Cats that have been fixed by the shelter have a flat spot on the top of their left ears.
Those who have feral cat colony can call the shelter Humane Society at 259-2847 for more information about having them fixed.
To sign up for the monthly low cost spay and neuter program visit lpchumanesoceity.org
mshinn@durangoherald.com
