DATE: Friday, April 11, 1997                TAG: 9704110646

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B12  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE                   LENGTH:   58 lines

ANIMAL GROUPS SEEK WAYS TO STEM FERAL CAT PROBLEM

The cats appeared slowly, poking their heads from under a mobile home. Soon there were nearly a dozen, and two or three began lapping up the tuna snack.

``At night, you can see all 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.''

Ms. 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, Ms. Falconer said. Having the cats in a colony makes them easier to trap.

Throughout Southwood, there are at least a dozen more feline colonies, Ms. Falconer said.

Since February, Ms. Falconer 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 trapped 68, and has about another 100 to go.

After trapping a cat, the group will take it to a veterinarian to be spayed or neutered. It will also be vaccinated for common cat diseases like feline leukemia. The cat will then be released back into Southwood without the ability to reproduce, but with a new layer of protection against disease.

Voices for Animals is also working with Southwood residents who own cats as pets to have them spayed or neutered and 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,'' Ms. Norris said.

Unlike dogs, cats can usually survive on their own in the wild, Ms. Falconer said. Unfortunately, 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 a colony of about 15 or 20 cats under the guidance of Voices for Animals. KEYWORDS: FERAL CATS

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