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Charlotte Amalie
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesFERAL CAT DAY FOCUSING ON HOMELESS FELINES

FERAL CAT DAY FOCUSING ON HOMELESS FELINES

Thanks to Lynda Lohr for the article she wrote on feral cats. I would like to make just a couple of additions.
This year, the St. Croix Animal Welfare Center, Humane Society of St. Thomas and Animal Care Center of St. John received a grant from the Pegasus Foundation of Concord, New Hampshire, enabling us to subsidize the cost of cat and dog spays and neuters. Through the assistance of this grant and other contributions from individuals, the St. Croix Animal Welfare Center is able to offer spay/neuter surgery at no cost to persons who cannot otherwise afford the surgery.
So, for the foreseeable future, we have no minimum fee or charge for this service. We certainly welcome donations, but we do not want lack of money to prevent or delay anyone from getting their own cat (or dog) or a local stray or feral cat (or dog) altered.
Also, I want to applaud the contributions made by people such as Diane Chandler who serve as caretakers for feral cat colonies on our islands. Diane does it right. She not only feeds the cats and watches over them, but she brings them in for spay/neuter and feline leukemia testing. As someone once told me, stray cats can find food, water and shelter, but they cannot find veterinary care.
I would like to encourage everyone who is feeding stray animals to follow Diane's example: Call us so that we can help get these cats altered, and thereby prevent reproduction of another generation of stray and feral animals.
Paul Chakroff
Executive Director, St. Croix Animal Welfare Center

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