Animal welfare
Ireland’s feral cat population has reached “crisis levels”, according to the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, with the number of strays estimated to be as high as 200,000.
The society is beginning a new campaign to raise funds to neuter strays and stop what it says is the proliferation of unwanted litters within the feral cat population.
The money will be used to run a trap, neuter, return scheme.
This will humanely capture the cats, which are then brought to vets where they are spayed and treated for parasites.
The tip of one ear is then removed to indicate they have been neutered.
After a recovery period of between 24-36 hours, the cats are released at their original location.
Feral cats were breeding “uncontrollably”, said the society. This was resulting in an animal welfare crisis which was spiralling out of control.
“With a female cat capable of having up to three litters a year, with up to eight kittens in each litter, an initial colony of six un-neutered cats can quickly swell to over 100 within a year,” said society chairwoman Dorothy Walker.
Unwanted cats faced short, brutal and miserable lives, said Ms Walker, living off the wildlife population, carrion and discarded rubbish.
