SAYREVILLE — With rabies cases on the rise in Middlesex County, one local nonprofit is seeking to diminish the feral cat population by uniting cat supporters and adversaries alike in an approach that traps and neuters rather than traps and kills.
Kathy Gabrielescu, founder of Whiskers Rescue, addressed the Borough Council recently in hopes it will work collaboratively with her Sayreville-based group to use the practice known as trap, neuter and release
TNR) in dealing with feral cats, or those born in the wild without human contact.
“I am working with the town of Sayreville in the hope that the Board of Health, council and mayor will take advantage of my 12 years of experience in the field of TNR [by] passing an ordinance that not only allows for TNR but encourages animal lovers to reach out for help from nonprofits and animal control alike,” Gabrielescu said. “I really believe that to solve this community problem we have to encourage cooperation between cat lovers and people who don’t love cats.”
Sayreville Business Administrator Jeff Bertrand said the borough’s current animal control shelters are doing a good job and the town is not in the dire situation of surrounding towns with feral cats. But he said the issue centers on the fact that there is a reasonable concern among residents about rabies.
“We are not in the position of some of our neighboring communities,” said Bertrand. “[But] the underlying issue is there’s a sincere and reasonable concern about rabies and we are trying to stay ahead of this issue.”
There has been an increase in rabies cases among animals such as cats and raccoons, which the county has been monitor- ing closely, according to Bertrand. But one concern lies in the fact that people may be more inclined to approach a feral cat with rabies rather than a possum or raccoon with rabies, he said.
In 2008, there were 11 positive rabies cases. There have been 12 positive rabies cases in the county so far this year, including one recent case in Old Bridge involving a feral cat, according to the Middlesex County Public Health Department.
“The county has been letting us know [that] they’ve been watching the rabies situation very closely and that there has been an increase in rabies cases,” said Bertrand. “The concern is, ‘How do you limit your exposure?’ We don’t want rabies to hit, so we are being responsibly proactive.”
With TNR, the felines are captured, neutered, tested and vaccinated for diseases including feline leukemia virus (FeLV), feline distemper, rabies and parasites, before being released.
“It’s a humane solution to addressing the feral cat problem, by trapping and neutering rather than trapping and killing,” said Gabrielescu. “As those cats die off, they wont be leaving future generations.”
Cats that test positive for FeLV are euthanized, as the disease is highly contagious to other cats, not to humans.
For those cats deemed healthy, the ear tip is removed as an identifying marker and the cat is released where it was captured. Those that are healthy and domesticated are put up for adoption through Whiskers Rescue.
“Part of the confusion with feral cats is, although they are the same species as domestic cats they are not the same,” Gabrielescu said. “The cat stays with us for a couple of days; if it’s a truly domestic cat, you’ll see signs and it will start looking for human attention, whereas a feral cat has no need for human attention. They look at us as predators.”
Cats are deemed adoptable if they are clearly domesticated adults or if they are kittens that can be trained and domesticated.
“Cats can be adopted through Whiskers Rescue so that we can actually get some of them homes and have room to help more,” Gabrielescu said.
Several weeks ago, Gabrielescu addressed the Sayreville council in an attempt to unite Whiskers Rescue with the borough in reducing feral cat colonies.
“We are offering to share our town
burden of helping reduce the feral cat population by being available to residents who may not know how to capture the feral cats they feed, for vaccinations and neuter as well as those who, despite their well-meaning intentions, are unable to afford to do so,” she said.
The borough Board of Health is discussing the TNR issue and will make recommendations to the council. But Gabrielescu said she is concerned about some of the things being discussed by the board involving the ordinance.
“While the Board of Health has not formally submitted their proposal for an ordinance, we did attend their last meeting and we do have some concerns with components of the ordinance they were considering,” she said.
To address some of these concerns, she wrote to the board with a proposed ordinance that she believes offers a middle-ofthe road approach to alleviating feral cat colonies.
“I think the way to solve the problem is to encourage a middle ground and I think TNR is a middle ground,” she said. “The bottom line is if you’re going to feed feral cats, you need to make sure they are neutered.”
Her proposed ordinance says the feeding of feral cats in Sayreville should only be permitted in conjunction with a TNR program.
“Allowing residents to feed only altered cats will reduce the population over time without putting cat lovers in fear of reaching out for help,” Gabrielescu said. She also suggests specific times for feeding feral cats, such as 30 minutes after sunrise until 30 minutes before sundown; suggests that anonymous complaints be disallowed so people have the ability to face their accuser; and suggests that complaints be directed to the police and animal control.
“No one should feed cats and allow them to breed out of control; however, it should be accepted and recognized that feral cats do exist and will continue to exist,” Gabrielescu said. “By encouraging people to call for help and TNR the cats, we will see a decrease in the number of complaints [and] we will not encounter huge colonies in residential areas.”
Gabrielescu said the organization’s assistance would be free for the borough and would save money for taxpayers, as fewer cats would have to go through the shelter.
“We’re a small group but we raise approximately $100,000 a year,” she said of the rescue group. “Donations are needed to continue our TNR work.”
Whiskers Rescue, which is being used in South Amboy, currently has a budget of approximately $40,000 that could use toward practicing TNR in Sayreville, according to Gabrielescu. But since the annual budget is spread across all participating towns, the amount of funds allocated to each town varies upon a first-come, first-served basis.
“So, as far as how much [of the budget] is used in Sayreville will depend on how many people contact us,” Gabrielescu said. “[But] we’re not asking the borough for any money.”
To learn about adoptable cats from Whiskers Rescue or to make a donation, visit http://whiskersrescue.org. To receive additional information about rabies, call the Middlesex County Public Health Department at 732-745-3100.