Spay-and-neuter program proposed for Chambers County

BY JOHN BRICE

THE LAFAYETTE SUN

CHAMBERS COUNTY — The Chattahoochee Humane Society’s board meeting Tuesday evening at Capital City Bank in West Point centered on strategies to address the growing feral dog and cat population in Chambers County. The discussion included input from community leaders and stakeholders, including Alabama House District 38 Republican nominee Kristin Nelson.

Board members focused on challenges created by the rise in feral animals, including limited shelter capacity, rising intake costs, public safety and nuisance complaints, as well as budget constraints faced by small municipalities.

Proposed solutions included partnering with regional veterinarians or nonprofit organizations to offer free or low-cost spay-and-neuter services, as well as using mobile clinics to reduce transportation barriers. Participants agreed that prioritizing female dogs and cats would be key to reducing population growth.

To address the rising number of feral cat colonies, board members discussed the establishment of a Trap-Neuter-Return program, commonly referred to as TNR. Under the program, cats would be humanely trapped, spayed or neutered, vaccinated and returned to their original locations.

The discussion also touched on the tendency for feral cat populations to concentrate around locations such as restaurants, schools, retail centers and nursing homes. Nelson emphasized the importance of enforcing existing animal control laws and educating local officials about the issue. She also suggested filing police reports for repeat animal control ordinance violations to help establish a documented history of noncompliance.

Following the meeting, Chattahoochee Humane Society Board President Dantz Frazer said spay-and-neuter initiatives are critical to easing pressure on the shelter.

“One of the issues we have at the shelter is that we end up taking care of problems created by other folks,” Frazer said. “We want to get spay-and-neuter requirements in place so we can stop this never-ending wave of animals. They come to us through animal control officers, owner turn-ins and animals being dumped in the countryside and elsewhere. We’re often at or over capacity, and it’s stretching our resources very thin.”