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Marissa Reaume

A Humane Solution to Windsor's Feral Cat Population

Posted December 8, 2009 @ 10:12PM

Back in October, one of my neighbours told me that a mother cat and her three kittens were living under her deck but that she could not care for them due to her allergies. She was very worried that the cats were starving and knew that they needed help. Being the animal lover that I am, I immediately drove to the pet store, bought bags of cat food, bowls, and blankets, and made daily trips to my neighbour’s house to feed and care for the homeless cats.
But then it got cold and my neighbour and I started to worry that the cats would not survive the winter once the snow came. A relative told me that the cats could live at her house until we could find them homes. Her generous offer sounded like the perfect solution to the homeless cat problem in my neighbour’s backyard and yet there was still one obstacle—the fact that the cats were feral and would not allow humans to touch them.
So I overcame the obstacle by placing a call to Mike Gabor, a man who selflessly runs a TNR (trap, neuter, release) program called ‘Earn Your Wings’. Basically, he helps people catch feral cats so that they can be spayed or neutered for less than half as much money as a vet would charge, and then release the cats back into their chosen habitat so that they can enjoy their freedom without becoming pregnant and adding to the stray cat population.
Gabor helped me catch the cats one by one with a gentle and harmless method. I decided that rather than sending them back outside, I would bring them to live with a family member until we could find them homes. I have visited them daily since we brought them inside.
Two weeks later the cats are still wary of humans but are getting braver every day. In fact, two of the cats are already eating food out of my hands without flinching. I am confident that within a few more weeks they will be completely comfortable around us and will be ready to move on to new homes.
I think that Gabor’s program is a necessity in Windsor. It offers an alternative to the Windsor Humane Society’s policy to euthanize feral cats and allows these animals to live freely while controlling the feral cat population.

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