NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A Newport News man is handling a feral cat nest in his community, and informs News 3 he’s annoyed at the city’s inactiveness.
“This has been going on almost three years,” said Sammy Burton.
News 3 connected to a city representative for remark, who informed us they understand Burton’s circumstance, however said the city hasn’t caught cats for numerous years due to overpopulation at the regional animal shelter.
A city representative said there is the choice for homeowners to lease a trap from Animal Welfare and deal with the circumstance themselves. The trap costs $60, however the money is gone back to you when you return the equipment.
“I don’t think that’s fair because we’re paying that agency to do their job, and why should I have to do their job,” said Burton.
There are local agencies that handle trap-neuter-release (TNR). One of those is the Poquoson Animal Welfare Sanctuary.
Jim Rohrbach volunteers with PAWS. He said once they trap the feral cat, they get medical care.
“They get spayed or neutered depending on what they need, they get rabies shots, they get distemper shots, a wellness check and they get a SNAP test which determines whether they’re FIV positive of FIL positive,” said Rohrbach.
He said they then launch them back to a caretaker, who feeds the feral cats and lets them wander their property- however this time they’re invited.
The city of Newport News likewise has a feral cat nest program, where individuals can end up being authorized caretakers. If you sign up a nest, this prevents the possible fines for breaching the city regulation which does not permit individuals to feed free-roaming cats.
For more details about free-roaming cats in Newport News, you can e-mail Animal Welfare at [email protected] or call (757) 933-8953.
