Kitten season has officially ended in Winnemucca, but that hasn’t stopped felines, both young and old, from trying to find safety and shelter. As colder weather sets in, the city is left to contend with one question that many within the community have been asking themselves:
How can we help the stray and feral cats already here and for future generations to come?
Tracy Dean, former Executive Director of SPCA, seasoned cat trapper, and current Director of Community Cats of Reno, has pledged over 20 years of her life to protect these animals.
Throughout her work, she’s come to realize that there’s only one solution that effectively addresses the underlying problem.
“The only way to make a difference is to spay-neuter,” Dean said.
TNR, or Trap, Neuter, and Return, is the leading solution amongst cat experts. Active community volunteers like Heather Hill are all too familiar with witnessing how impactful TNR can be.
After years of leading a 501(c)(3) cat organization, she’s seen firsthand how the community needs to get involved to make positive change for these animals.
“Cats reproduce a lot, and if they're not TNR’d, their populations can get out of control,” Hill said. “TNR is the only effective, humane solution to feral cat populations.”
Organizations like the SPCA of Northern Nevada, Maddie’s Fund, and Alley Cat Allies all agree; TNR is the safest and strongest tool towns like Winnemucca have to help reduce the suffering of the feral and stray cat populations.
Even though the solution to protecting these animals is the same, there is a difference between stray and feral cats that volunteers wish to educate the public on. A stray cat is a domesticated pet that has either been abandoned or who’s gotten lost. Whereas a feral cat is an animal that has never been handled by humans and is considered untamed. In Hill’s view, once you’ve identified the type of cat you’re dealing with, the TNR process will become simpler over time.
With the implementation of TNR in rural northern Nevada communities, cats will learn to thrive in managed colonies. Dean believes that maintaining a managed cat colony is the second most important aspect of TNR. Once the strays and ferals have been sterilized, they still need a place to go back to.
“Hopefully, a managed colony has shelters, and has fresh water every day, and has a stable supply of food that's keeping the cats there,” Dean said. “But then they still wanna go outside. They still want to do their job…That, to me, is what a managed colony is.”
Based on her work, Dean feels that it’s in people’s most natural instincts to protect animals that can’t help themselves, but doing it in a controlled and organized manner is a priority for these cats to succeed.
While it is unknown how many free-roaming cats there are statewide, experts estimate there are over 200,000 free-roaming cats in Clark County alone according to the Las Vegas Valley Humane Society. However, the lack of official tracking makes it difficult to say how many stray and feral cats reside within Nevada and in Humboldt County. Desert Trails Veterinarian, Katie Estill, understands the gaps between tracking stray dogs versus stray and feral cats.
“Essentially in Humboldt County, it's because we don't have animal control … do anything with cats,” she said. “They don't have people assigned to those [cats], whereas with stray dogs, of course, we have the animal control officer that picks them up, and they go to our local animal shelter. They keep records of that. Whereas the feral cat population, they do not do anything with cats at all. So, all of our statistics are based on rescue groups, and our local people that are involved, which is just not as good as having a centralized source of information.”
Dedicated volunteers like Dean don’t let the absence of proper data hold them back. Dean and many like her are willing to continue the good fight for as long as it takes.
“People just want to do the right thing, and we just have to help them figure out the right thing is to do TNR for the cats that they're feeding,” she said. “My simplest main goal is to reduce suffering of animals. Because we all know that these animals do not always have the best of a life, and so many are born that don't have a chance to live long. It's just a really rough world for a lot of these cats.”
For those wanting to offer care, Dean suggested being aware of the cats that are around the immediate area.
“You first look at each situation, and then you're going to start to get on TNR. Get the cats on a feeding schedule, get the TNR going and then, you're monitoring any new cats coming into an area,” she said. “I do advise people, you know, keep your feeding area clean, keep it organized, keep it on a schedule. You're not trying to attract every cat from every neighborhood around you. You need to be responsible.”
Personal responsibility is key to taking care of stray and feral cats, but there are also factors outside of people’s control that can lead to the rise in abandoned and free-roaming cats.
Hill said there are many things that can contribute to the problem.
“I do know things like inflation and when the economy is bad, people can't afford to take care of their cats as much. And sometimes they abandon their animals,” she said. “A lot of times it's the animals that are abandoned, that are not spayed and neutered, their offspring are what become the feral cats. Any cat can become pregnant as early as five or six months old, and they can have two to three litters a year, and then those kittens have kittens.”
While economic hardships have only spurred the homeless cat populations, there are resources for those who might need extra support taking care of their animals. One alternative that Winnemucca has provided its residents is using vouchers to alleviate the cost of spay and neutering.
Mayor Richard Stone attests to what Winnemucca has to offer.
“We do supplement spay and neuter for cats and dogs, and that budget is $60,000 a year,” he said, adding that a lot of the vets around utilize the spay and neuter program. “We get billed from them constantly when they're doing a spay and neuter. That's been a program for years and years, back even before I was a city councilman.”
The effect of the spay and neuter vouchers has reached beyond pet owners and has become popular within vet’s offices. Dr. Estill welcomes anybody who might need assistance with spaying and neutering their cats.
“This is where the city actually does spend their money, is on the spay-neuter vouchers,” she said. “Pretty much everyone that comes in utilizes the vouchers. I do think that is a good use of city and county money because it encourages people to spay-neuter the pets they do have. And it definitely makes it more affordable.”
According to the Winnemucca Police Department and the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, an individual can save $40 for a cat neuter and $75 for a cat spay.
However, Hill and Dean feel that Winnemucca still has a ways to go before the stray and feral cat populations in town are truly safe. While many cat advocates would like to see a non-kill shelter made specifically for cats, the city is not ready to take that leap quite yet.
“Currently the city and the county operate our animal shelter which is for dogs only,” Stone said. “At this time, the city has no desire to [build a cat shelter] because it would have to be a completely new facility.”
Even though Winnemucca’s local government does not provide volunteer opportunities or physical educational resources for understanding the stray/feral cat situation, the city encourages individuals to post information themselves so anyone within the community has access to education and resources.
Stone said. “If there's a group of individuals who feel driven, we would support them the best we could. But I don't think we're the ones who are going to go out there and try to recruit.”
Many TNR experts like Heather Hill and Tracy Dean disagree with these types of statements.
Dean, who has tried to work with the “powers that be,” now understands that while city governments may focus their dollars elsewhere, it is everyday people that can rally together to make positive changes in their communities.
“Most people, if they're not encountering free-roaming cats in neighborhoods, they really don't understand what it is,” Dean said. “I think they hear from constituents, and that's why they want to fund something to help the areas that they represent because that's what's important to them, and that's what makes the difference. People, they need to go to their local representatives and explain what's important to them, and if it's important, to have a spay-neuter program or TNR program.”
It may be years before Winnemucca considers building a cat-only shelter, but until then, Dean, Hill, and volunteers all across Nevada will continue to do the work to protect the stray and feral cat populations.
Those interested in finding out more about TNR can email communitycatsofreno@yahoo.com.
To learn more about the voucher program, contact the Winnemucca Police Department or the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office.
For general information about feral and stray cats, visit https://www.alleycat.org/.