To help curb McPherson’s growing cat population, the city announced a new spay and neuter voucher program on Monday. The “Fix a Cat” program will cover $30 of the spay or neuter fee for an individual cat. McPherson residents can pick up a voucher from the McPherson County Humane Society, which can be used at any veterinarian within the city of McPherson.
“I hope that neighbors get together and address these issues. Thirty dollars is a lot of the price of it (the spay or neuter procedure),” said Debbie Gray, president of the McPherson County Humane Society. “I think if the city allows us to continue this for a few years, it’ll help a lot.”
McPherson Mayor Tom Brown said that the need for this type of program has been apparent for years and that the city had discussed it before, but had tabled the issue before he came to office.
“I think we need to do something,” Brown said. “There was money in last year’s budget, and no program had been delineated.”
The city has allocated $12,000 for the program this year and the money is included in next year’s budget, which is awaiting approval from the city commission. Brown said the amount will be enough to spay or neuter about 395 cats.
“It’s an across-the-board measure for people who have domestic cats, as well as feral or stray cats,” Brown said.
Gray said that the humane society is filled with cats, and that too many stray cats are reproducing.
She hopes that this program will help address the stray cat population, especially in neighborhoods that have a large amount of stray cats running around.
“The idea is to stop these cats from having kittens,” she said. Cats that are not spayed or neutered can multiply in a hurry, Gray said. In fact, one female and one male cat and their offspring can potentially produce 420,000 kittens in seven years.
“Any cat that is fixed, one at a time, is going to make a huge difference,” Gray said. “I don’t expect a solution overnight, but I do expect this to help.”
Gray is hoping for at least 300 cats to 350 cats to be spayed or neutered through the voucher program, and said that the humane society can help with trapping any neighborhood stray cats.
Once an individual has picked up a voucher form at the humane society, he or she can redeem it at their veterinarian’s office, where the voucher will then be turned in to the humane society. The voucher essential acts as a coupon, with the individual paying the remaining amount over $30. At the end of each month, the humane society will turn in the used vouchers to the city. Gray said that the money the city has allocated for the fix a cat program is not intended to fund the humane society, but rather to specifically fund the program. The human society will simply administer the Fix A Cat program.
“I’m happy to see this money go into strictly spay and neuter,” Gray said. “This will make a difference. I’m very proud that we got to this day with our city.”
