ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 11, 1997 TAG: 9704110041
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: CHRISTOPHER BELLES DAILY PROGRESS
Voices for Animals traps before it shoots - and then it neuters and vaccinates the feral kitties.
The cats appeared slowly, poking their heads from under a mobile home. Soon, there were nearly a dozen, and two or three started in on the tuna snack.
``At night, you can see all the eyes under there watching you,'' said Julie Falconer, pointing under the trailer as she spooned out the fish on a recent night. ``There's a bunch under there.''
Falconer, 30, volunteers for Voices for Animals, a group that has been working since February to control a booming feral cat population at the Southwood Estates Mobile Home Park. The group traps the cats and has them spayed or neutered.
About 60 cats live in the colony under the trailer where Falconer put out the tuna. The owner feeds them twice a day, she said, and doesn't mind the cats living under his home.
Some people might think the man is making the Southwood cat situation worse. But he's doing just what the group wants, Falconer said. Having the cats in a colony makes them easier to trap.
There are at least a dozen more feline colonies in Southwood, Falconer said.
Since February, she and other members of the group have driven to the park three to five times a week to trap cats. So far, Voices for Animals has caught 68; there are another 100 to go.
After trapping a cat, the group takes it to a veterinarian to be spayed or neutered. The animal also is vaccinated for common cat diseases such as feline leukemia. It then is released back into Southwood without the ability to reproduce, but with a new layer of protection against disease.
Voices for Animals also is working with Southwood residents who own pet cats to have them spayed or neutered, as well as vaccinated.
Volunteer Beth Norris said trapping all the cats is key to the success of the effort.
``It only takes one cat that hasn't been spayed or neutered to make the whole thing useless,'' she said.
Unlike dogs, cats usually can survive on their own in the wild, Falconer said. But years of breeding cats as pets have weakened their ability to exist in the elements. Often, they reproduce, but fall victim to varying degrees of malnutrition, injury and disease.
The result is, when left alone, cats will form large populations of mostly sick, deformed and weak felines. Often, they will not live for more than a few years.
Southwood residents have noticed.
``They're all over the place,'' said Jacob Meadows. ``I never know where they all come from.''
Meadows said the cats often fight and make noise. He said they also can be a nuisance by breaking into trash cans looking for food.
``People put bones in with meat on them, and they'll tear up the trash to get the meat out,'' Meadows said.
Meadows, who has lived in Southwood for 18 years, said he has been feeding 15 or 20 cats under the guidance of Voices for Animals. He said he thinks their strategy makes sense and seems to be alleviating the problem.
``I reckon it will keep the population down,'' Meadows said. ``Last year and the year before, there were dead cats around. It looked like they had been poisoned. Whatever was happening to them, this year it just stopped.''
Falconer said Voices for Animals hopes to expand the trapping technique to other sections of Charlottesville and Albemarle County with cat population problems. She said it hopes to offer the Southwood project as a model.
``People want an alternative to just going out and shooting animals, which is the traditional way of dealing with them when they become a problem,'' she said. ``I think this is an improvement.''
For more information on Voices for Animals and the cat-control program, call 804-979-1200 or write to the organization at: P.O. Box 1324, Charlottesville 22902.
LENGTH: Medium: 79 linesby CNB