COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Metro Atlanta is dealing with the overpopulation of stray and feral cats and now there's a concerted effort to get that number under control.
Good Mews Animal Foundation, the Atlanta Humane Society and Fix Georgia Pets are spearheading efforts for population control, especially in Cobb County.
On Wednesday, there were 30 stray and feral cats being sterilized as part of the Community Cats Spay and Neuter Program at Good Mews - just one way to cut down on the cat population explosion. These surgeries are funded by the group Fix Georgia Pets.
Jen Jewah, the surgical program manager says they spay and neuter these cats three times a week, and these community cats are trapped from all across Cobb County.
“Could be behind their house just a colony of cats in their neighborhood, sometimes they’re behind a supermarket. I know someone who goes to the Big Chicken,” said Jewah.
Good Mews Board Member Elizabeth Finch says cutting down on cat numbers is a public health concern.
“It’s a public health issue, it presents with rabies, it really messes with the ecosystem when you get down to it,” said Finch.
The numbers tell the story:
One female cat can have 4 litters in one year. Those 12 cats can become 67 cats and in two years, more than 2,000 cats in four years and in eight years- that one cat’s offspring can total more than 2 million cats.
The numbers show that population control should be a priority.
After these cats are trapped, they tip one ear to mark the cats so they don’t trap the same cats again. The actual spaying only takes five minutes and the neutering only takes about two. After they convalesce, they’re released back to where they were trapped.
So far they’ve sterilized more than 12,000 cats in metro Atlanta and beyond.
“If we are preventing the problem at the outset then we are preventing the euthanasia down the line,” said Finch.