Grant funds TNR for Trenton's street cats

The headline included a startling number: “14,000 stray cats.” That’s how many feral, stray, wild and street cats – none of those terms defined, BTW, though they’re seemingly used interchangeably – live in Trenton.

These are the cats without homes, regular meals or veterinary care who still somehow survive in the city.

Now, according to today’s Trenton Times story, an organization trying to control cat colonies and cut down on cat euthanasia as a solution is working with the Trenton Animal Shelter to trap, neuter and release cats.

Thanks to a grant of $10,000 from PetSmart, Trenton Trap, Neuter, Release can offer reduced prices for neutering cats -- $15 for a street cat and $35 for a pet cat. Once neutered, cats are returned to where they had been. Over time, their colonies get smaller as reproduction stops.

The organization is headed by Sandra Obi, a Trenton resident who started TNR on her own block when she moved to town six years ago. She’s also affiliated with Project TNR of the Animal Protection League of NJ (www.APLNJ.org).

The sequence goes like this: Once a week, with some of its 70 volunteers, Trenton TNR rounds up “feral stray and street cats for health screenings and immunizations. The cats are also spayed or neutered.”

Once the cats are returned to their original areas, residents serve as their caregivers. They check for new cats and have newcomers vaccinated and fixed.

“It costs animal control between $100 and $120 per animal to capture and euthanize a cat,” Obi said. So not only is TNR a humane way to deal with this problem that humans have caused, but it’s also cheaper.
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2nd save by veteran dog rescuer

Valerie Noble, who saved a dog in Trenton last summer (see post for July 15, 2009), took action again this week, as her narrative here describes.

“I waiting outside my office on S. Clinton when I saw this beautiful yet filthy and boney little pit bull go trotting along and walking up to strangers. In a second I decided that she didn't belong to anyone in the vicinity (no collar) and called her to come.

“She immediately came to me and while it took a few minutes to get her to come inside my building, she eventually did and I got her into a safe room.(Coincidentally, the only available room was our adoption room!) Once I had her safely there, our receptionist called [Trenton] animal control.

“She never once barked, bit or anything! I sat on the floor with her as she jumped all around me, licked my hands and face, and eventually curled up on my lap and gave what I'm sure was a huge sigh of relief. She drank almost two bowls of water as we waited. All in all, she was absolutely the sweetest little thing, although filthy and definitely starved.

“I just gave her lots of love until animal control came. Once again, I gave them my name and number and asked that I be contacted should her cards not line up!

“I'm thinking about visiting her today just to be sure she's been given a bath, because boy was I covered in DIRT after yesterday! But I loved every second of it and I’m glad she is at the very least off the Trenton streets!”
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'Shelter' in name only?

After last Wednesday's rally for the Trenton Animal Shelter, did anything there change for the better? A few dozen animal advocates, led by longtime volunteers at the shelter – which they say is understaffed and in deplorable condition – had marched and chanted in front of City Hall at noon.

Demonstrators spoke of the need to fill vacancies for animal control officers (ACOs) at the shelter and the growing need for volunteers to do some of the work that paid employees would ordinarily do. They cited animals without water and dirty litter boxes.

In a written response, the city’s director for health and human services denied, point by point, the accuracy of the protesters’ claims. Another city official disputed the argument that the $75,000 to be paid to a consultant could instead go to hiring three ACOs.

One city councilman (Manny Segura, at-large), reportedly the only city rep at the protest, had visited the shelter. He found people sharing a closet as an office and described as “terrible” that “there’s not even enough space for the animals.” He said other city council members have ignored his reports.

Segura advised the protesters to bring their message to a city council meeting, and one of the demonstrators’ leaders said they’ll return “next month” if conditions don’t improve.

As usual, the animals are in the middle, unable to speak for themselves about the living conditions at the Trenton shelter. How and when can this situation be improved?
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