100 cats ... 1800 kittens - Dubois County Free Press, Inc.

Sherry Byers had a hard time letting Figgy, a stray she took in about a month ago, go Thursday morning. According to Byers, Figgy loves to go for rides in the car and has been a great pet. — Sherry Byers had a hard time letting Paisley go Thursday morning. According to Byers, she took Paisley in about a month ago and he loves to go for rides in the car.

Update for January: The Dubois County Humane Society will be open January 1st from 6 – 8 p.m. for spay/neuter transport sign up only. Male dogs and cats are $20.00; female cats are $30.00; and female dogs are $60.00.

If your pet has not received a rabies vaccine, it is an additional $15.00 charge. Payment is due at the time of sign up.

The transport is scheduled for January 2nd. Pets need to arrive at DCHS between 6:00-6:45 in a pet taxi lined with newspaper. Pick up time is Friday between 1:30-5:00pm.

Your pet will be transported to Pets Alive and will be in the care of their skilled staff

Original story:

A feral cat raced around the interior of the BMW as Dubois County Humane Society Executive Director Mary Saalman tried to calm it enough to place it in a pet carrier.

After scratching Andrea Hedinger, the Humane Society’s new president, and ignoring Saalman’s charm, the large cat wedged itself into the crevice formed by the the windshield over the steering wheel. Its body conformed to the shape of the car dash as claws and teeth pointed out at any would-be assailant.

Andrea Hedinger, president of the Humane Society Board, received a couple of wounds during the collection on Thursday.

Faced with the certainty that the cat was staying in the vehicle and missing the ride up to Bloomington, Saalman said, “I really think we need to get him down from there.”

“It’s fine,” said the woman as she got into the car, but her body revealed her discomfort as she leaned back and turned her head as far from the still animal as it could go.

“It’s fine,” she said not so certainly. “It’ll be fine.”

Fortunately Saalman successfully coaxed the woman from her car and had a better time scaring the cat from its perch than she had catching it.

The cat and reluctant driver left vowing to try again next month. She was one of 24 who took advantage of the Humane Society’s low cost spay and neuter program that is taking a bite out of the future feral cat population.

“We are trying to make it really affordable so that if you have a neighborhood cat or if you have a cat that your neighbor isn’t taking care of, you can bring it in,” Hedinger explained. “Most people can afford $20 to do that rather than the $100 to $150 that it can potentially cost.”

Mary Saalman coaxing a cat into a carrier.

The Humane Society, a no-good shelter, has signed up to partner with Bloomington-based Pets Alive, a nonprofit spay/neuter and vaccination clinic, to provide the transport the first Thursday of each month. Volunteers at the Humane Society arrive early in the morning to take a look at each cat, put an identification collar on the animal and place it in a labeled carrier before being transported to Bloomington by Pets Alive.

The goal is to cut down on cat populations in Dubois County by offering a low cost spay/neuter solution. Any resident can bring in any cat, feral or family, and take advantage of the service for $20 plus a $15 vaccination fee.

The Humane Society has several programs to assist with the cost of spaying and neutering. This is a new program subsidized through $5,000 they were awarded for the Indiana Service Projects program earlier this year.

Annually, the group provides assistance for over 500 animals within Dubois County. Through this new program their goal is to double that figure.

Hedinger tagged and placed Figgy in a cat carrier to be transported to Pets Alive in Bloomington. Pets Alive is a nonprofit spay and neuter clinic offer low cost services for animals.

The Humane Society only has capacity for ten cats at a time and homes are difficult to find for them. They handle any excess through a limited number of foster homes, but there aren’t enough foster homes to take care of all the stray cats in the county.

Hedinger isn’t sure why dog owners seem to be more aware of the time frame in which a dog needs to be spayed or neutered while cats surprise owners.

[highlight]A kitten can have its first heat before it is six months old.[/highlight]

This can surprise cat owners when the free kitten recently picked up out of a cardboard box suddenly turns into two to four more kittens.

That is just one feature that allows cat populations to grow fast. Additionally, an adult female cat averages about three litters of kittens a year. Each litter consists of four to six kittens; that’s up to 18 new kittens a year.

Plus, the first litter of the year could produce two to four more cats who are each having litters of their own before the year is over.

That is pretty exponential growth.

So far the Humane Society has spayed or neutered about 100 cats through the new program; reducing the number of births in 2014 by 1200 to 1800 kittens.

Jasper and Huntingburg, just like any other city, have problems with feral cats. A resident recently approached the Huntingburg Common Council about assistance with a colony of cats in his neighborhood on Second Street. The council had little to say in a way to help but Mayor Denny Spinner made contact with the Humane Society to help come up with a solution.

“We met with Mayor Spinner and he was very excited about our offering this service,” Hedinger said. “He has our information and hopefully has supplied those residents with the information. In fact, most of our transports have come from Huntingburg and Holland so far.”

One of the ten cats in the Humane Society's cat room looked out on the early morning. — One of the ten cats in the Humane Society’s cat room looked out on the early morning.

The Humane Society has met with Jasper Mayor Terry Seitz about the feral cat problem in the city. One issue the city and Humane Society is attempting to address is the colony of cats located behind the Walmart complex on Jasper’s north side. The area is estimated to have about 60 cats.

“We have met with the Humane Society and other parties to work out a solution for the population in that area,” Mayor Seitz said. “The solution is a spay and neuter program of some kind. We are on the same page and at this point we are waiting to see how the city fits in the solution working with the Humane Society’s program.”

Rather than catching and euthanizing the feral animals, the option to take advantage of the low cost spay or neuter can knock the colony out in about three to four years without killing any cats.

It isn’t clear who or what organization will collect animals from this colony to take part in the program. Mayor Seitz did state the city was talking with a self-appointed “caretaker” for the cats in the Walmart complex to see if that person can assist with the spay and neuter solution.

The Dubois County Humane Society is a no-kill shelter.

There’s just all kinds of things we can do besides picking them up and euthenizing them,” Hedinger said. “There are lots of different options out there.”

The Dubois County Humane Society is located at 426 Wernsing Road, Jasper. Their number is (812) 482-7387.