OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — The program has helped save over 350 cat lives. It's aimed at helping community cats, which are cats who live outdoors and are not candidates for adoption.
- We spoke with the Nebraska Humane Society (NHS), a community cat caretaker and neighbors to see how the program has been received.
- Video shows NHS's release process and community cats in Deborah Corbin's colony.
- One neighbor shared her opinion with us on the outdoor cats; "They don't cause a problem. They help get rid of moles that are getting in our yards or mice that might be outside, so I think that they're great to have around."
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
SNR stands for shelter, neuter, and release -- and that’s the goal of the Community Cat Program at the Nebraska Humane Society. We’re learning about this program and what it means for neighborhoods.
Deborah Corbin is a licensed community cat caregiver. That means these five cats live outside and stay outside.
But while she provides them with food, water, and shelter, she does not want to see their numbers grow.
"For me, now I'm like, I don't want them to do more babies so I'm like standing at the door like stop that, you know," she said.
That's where the humane society steps in. Its goal is to reduce cat overpopulation by vaccinating them, spay or neutering, and returning them to where they came from.
But not everyone agrees with the practice as many have shared their opinions on the NHS Facebook page including this post where the Facebook user said, “'returned' is just re-abandoned to live a painful and fearful life.”
So, while some people disagree with the practice, neighbors we talked with say they do think it’s a humane way to care for strays.
"They don't cause a problem. They help get rid of moles that are getting in our yards or mice that might be outside, so I think that they're great to have around," said Charlene Dunn, Deborah’s neighbor.
When a stray cat is brought into the humane society, staff will go through a detailed list of information to determine if the cat should go up for adoption or if it should go back to its outside environment.
This is based on a number of things including behavior.
After the cats are returned, neighbors who'd like to keep the cats off of their property are given deterrents and special mats to keep the cats away.
But for Deborah, she says she'll let them stay awhile.
"They are here all the time they sleep here they drink their water they jump over they fight they play and then they come back and go to sleep,” said Deborah.
