News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Colonies of feral cats run rampant in the Sisters area and throughout Deschutes County.
Veterinarian Dr. Byron Maas of the Bend Spay & Neuter Project is urging Sisters area residents who are feeding feral cats to trap the felines and bring them into Bend to be sterilized.
“This is the breeding season for cats, so we’ve got a real push to get feral cats in here,” Dr. Maas said.
According to Dr. Maas, the sterilization program will help stabilize out-of-control populations of feral cats. Feral cat colonies prey on wildlife and compete with other predators.
The project offers low-cost sterilization and vaccination services to help reduce feline overpopultion and the related need to put down cats in local shelters.
Cats that are brought in to the Bend Spay & Neuter Project are re-released into the area where they were caught so that they continue to compete for resources with unsterilized cats.
The competition helps keep the population in check and over time can stabilize or reduce populations of wild felines.
Dr. Maas noted that without sterilization, people who feed feral cats “are just setting up a situation for breeding.”
Cats are very successful and feeding makes their life easy enough that a single cat can birth multiple litters of kittens.
Bend Spay & Neuter Project offers live traps for cats and traps may also be obtained from local Humane Society faciltiies.
The Nugget’s Furry Friends Pet Food Drive distributed 20 coupons for sterilization services. According to the Bend Spay & Neuter Project, only one has been redeemed so far.
Those who hold the certificates are encouraged to use them now in the middle of breeding season.
The Bend Spay & Neuter Project has been in operation in its current location since October 2005 and veterinarians have performed about 3,500 surgeries there, according to Dr. Maas.
“We’re seeing domestic cats that are fairly tame... all the way to cats that are trapped that are completely feral,” Dr. Maas said.
Cats come in from as far away as Burns, Madras and Klamath Falls. Dr. Maas said there hasn’t been a a lot of traffic from Sisters yet, “but we’re getting some.”
Cats have also come in from Black Butte Ranch and Camp Sherman, he said.
For more information visit http://www.bendsnip.org or call 617-1010.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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