The village of Saugerties will be rounding up feral cats earlier this year than usual, Trustee Donald Hackett said at a Village Board meeting on Monday, June 3. “Usually they begin in August, but I guess we’ve been having a couple issues going on, so I would like to start a little bit earlier,” he said. “I think we have $500 in our budget for that.”
Kim Kelly works with the Woodstock neutering program, Hackett said. The cats are neutered and released near where they were picked up. The cat’s ear is nicked, so if it is picked up again, the “trap, neuter, return” program will know the animal is already neutered.
Last year, the program identified four cats. At $25 per cat caught, neutered and released, the program had adequate funds, Hackett said. However, the year before, the village spent the full $500, catching 20 cats, or possibly even more, which would have busted the budget, he said.
So far, Hackett has received two calls from residents concerning feral cats, and Trustee Jeannine Mayer said she had also received a couple.
“Patrick Landewe and I used to do this [trap cats],” Hackett recalled. “Then Kim came, and she does a great job.”
Kelly notifies the homeowners in an area where she will be trapping before she begins, Hackett said. Cat owners will then know they should keep their house cats in. Should a pet be trapped, the owner should notify the animal shelter to have it returned.
“We have flyers that they put out, so people will know they should keep their cats in, or put a collar on them or some identification,” said Village Clerk Lisa Mayone.
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