{"id":4033,"date":"2026-05-25T16:44:52","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T20:44:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.coshoctoncounty.net\/shelter\/?page_id=4033"},"modified":"2026-08-18T20:22:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T00:22:10","slug":"strays-community-cat-and-kittens-overpopulation","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.coshoctoncounty.net\/shelter\/strays-community-cat-and-kittens-overpopulation\/","title":{"rendered":"Street Cats: Overpopulation Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Fix them or surrender them\u2014but please don\u2019t let them breed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In the last 20 years, no kill shelter and society policies have shifted intake responsibility from their doors\u2014to yours. Mother ferals, semi ferals in your cities garages, sheds, yards and trash cans. Overwhelm, frustration, and suffering follows\u2014because when you don\u2019t admit them, they do not magically stop existing or disappear. <\/span><\/p>\n

They all end up, somewhere. They end up at the mercy of, someone. And not everyone, is kind or loving toward these feral or newly stray, pets. <\/span><\/p>\n

Cats and kittens are protected by law as companion animals. But that does not remove the risk and danger, they often find themselves in. <\/span><\/p>\n

If \u201cno kill\u201d is working, why are there so many homeless animals? Why are so many, in\/out of animal care organizations? <\/b>
<\/span>Community Cats or Community Responsibility: No kill shelters and societies refuse animals by the thousands every year. Some promote the only solution, as trap and return (if they have a program, at all) via your time and cost. <\/span>Community response to this model is often frustration, overwhelm, a sense of blame shifting and much larger populations of sick cats and kittens\u2014when folks instead, do nothing.
<\/span><\/p>\n

We understand this frustration, as we are a part of this community, too. We are limited financially, too\u2014and we don\u2019t appreciate new unaltered and unvetted animals being left for us to navigate by the hundreds each year, either. Especially, when space in this small shelter and consistent resources for it are limited and must be carefully used. 
<\/span><\/p>\n

Our Model for our county since 1967:<\/b>
<\/span>\u2022Acceptance & open intake to our county
<\/span>\u2022Compassionate access to options, including humane euthanasia when pets need us most 
<\/span>\u2022Spay & Neuter Assistance Programs for our counties safe, non nuisance individual or colonies of cats.
<\/span><\/p>\n

Semi feral, more tame, safe outside kitties being fixed and retained, is a wonderful solution. If you see an earnotched cat, please relax and don\u2019t cat-nap! If it\u2019s not<\/b> injured or in distress, leave it\u2014someone\u2019s invested in them!<\/span><\/p>\n

Why should I take the time to fix a cat?
<\/b>Spay and neuter reduces euthanasia. <\/span>Spay and neuter reduces neglect, suffering and illness for cats & communities. <\/span>It also reduces behavioral and nuisance related complaints!  <\/span><\/p>\n

Spay and neuter is a piece of the puzzle! The biggest, and most important, including best outcomes for ALL! That is why we dedicate thousands of dollars to spay and neuter, each year! 
<\/span><\/p>\n

But when an animal needs to enter a shelter or society\u2026they should be able to do so openly. <\/span><\/p>\n

When these options for the cats and kittens do not exist, they overbreed. When we meet a majority of them, they enter here suffering, unwell, with parasitic infestations or other more severe medical concerns. We know the reality, because we are faced with it routinely. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Do you know anyone who wants 30+ cats and kittens, up to 3 times a week, every May-August? Do they want 20+ dogs and puppies every week during every spring and summer?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Neither do we.
Inaction is not the answer, and abandonment isn\u2019t either.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fix them or surrender them\u2014but please don\u2019t let them breed. In the last 20 years, no kill shelter and society policies have shifted intake responsibility from their doors\u2014to yours. Mother ferals, semi ferals in your cities garages, sheds, yards and trash cans. Overwhelm, frustration, and suffering follows\u2014because when you don\u2019t admit them, they do not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4033","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coshoctoncounty.net\/shelter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coshoctoncounty.net\/shelter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coshoctoncounty.net\/shelter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coshoctoncounty.net\/shelter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coshoctoncounty.net\/shelter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4033"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"https:\/\/www.coshoctoncounty.net\/shelter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4249,"href":"https:\/\/www.coshoctoncounty.net\/shelter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4033\/revisions\/4249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coshoctoncounty.net\/shelter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}