Nearly a year after a high profile meeting in Côte Saint-Luc brought the issue of feral cats into the public eye, more volunteers are being sought for a committee which is off to an excellent start.
I am very proud of the new Côte Saint-Luc Cat Committee (CSLCC). Its main focus has been a Trap, Neuter and Release (TNR) program. For 2011 this initiative has been supported financially by the City of Côte Saint-Luc and Canadian Pacific Railway.
An information booth will be set up at Trudeau Park in Côte Saint-Luc from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. during Canada Day festivities on Friday, July 1. At this time anyone interested in volunteering can stop by the kiosk, meet committee members and find out the different roles available. A new CSLCC hotline has been set up at 514-485-6800 extension CATS (2287) where people can leave messages about any stray cats in their area.
There is a small and dedicated committee which has been working in specific areas of town where there are known to be colonies of cats. TNR humanely traps, sterilizes and then releases feral cats back into their original territories. The trappers bring the cats to the Côte Saint-Luc Hospital for Animals, where they are spayed or neutered. Two members of the committee are allowing their home to be used as a place for the cats to recuperate before they are returned to the area in which they are found.
A female cat can reproduce four times a year, beginning from six months old, and can give birth to from one to eight kittens each time. By sterilizing the cats, their numbers are brought down through attrition. TNR programs have been proven worldwide, throughout Europe, the United States, parts of Canada, as the most humane and cost-efficient way of controlling and decreasing the numbers of homeless cats.
For more information call 514-485-6945 or e-mail me at mcohen@cotesaintluc.org.
For more information please see my flyer on the Côte Saint-Luc website.