Several members of McKean County’s No Feline Left Behind attended a work session with Bradford City Council asking for funding to help the group.
While the non-profit organization raises money to spay and neuter cats across the county, around half are in Bradford City.
Mayor Tom Riel noted at the start of the informational work session that council was not allowed to make any decisions at the session.
NFLB board member Rhonda Gray explained the organization traps, neuters and vaccinates cats, then returns them to the area where they were found.
NFLB board member Donna Douglass noted that the McKean County SPCA shelter is currently full of cats, so No Feline Left Behind is getting more calls to handle sick or homeless cats. The group is limited in its ability to help in that capacity.
“We also have many, many low income people with cats that haven’t been fixed yet,” noted Lori Burkhouse of NFLB.
Douglass explained that since the SPCA stopped doing clinics to help people get their cats spayed or neutered at a low cost, many pet owners have not been able to afford to get their pet fixed.
“Almost half of what we’ve done is just Bradford,” said Burkhouse, adding the organization covers 18 other municipalities.
Board member Pam Steck said it costs NFLB about $80 per cat.
This includes the cost for the animal to be spayed/neutered, vaccinated for distemper and rabies, treated for worms and fleas and having their nails trimmed. The amount also helps cover the cost of renting a bus to transport cats to an out-of-town facility to have the above services performed at a low cost.
“The city would have a huge mess if our group didn’t exist,” Douglass said.
She explained that one unaltered female cat produce over 400,000 offspring in a matter of just a few years.
The group plans to approach other municipalities, too.
Douglass noted that if the city provides funding to NFLB, the group will ensure that the funds are used in the city.
When asked about what happens next with the request for funding, Riel explained that city officials are now in budget season, and the “budget is a work in progress right up to the last meeting.” He said the request is “something we’ll certainly take into consideration,” but he urged them to continue their own fundraising efforts.
Riel said there will be a first and a second reading of the budget at meetings in December.
He asked the group if they were requesting a specific dollar amount.
While the group did not ask for a specific amount, they provided some numbers to give him an idea of what they were spending.
A recent clinic they did cost $3,042. They helped 43 cats at that clinic, and 27 of them were from Bradford City. The group has helped 87 cats in October.
Since NFLB received non-profit status in 2017, the group helped 53 cats in 2017, 294 in 2018 and 417 so far in 2019.
The group’s total income for 2019 so far was $35,179.79 and expenses were $35,072.81.
NFLB board member Lindsay Shine noted they received one grant this year: a $350 grant from Walmart.
However, they were unable to get other grants they applied for because the organization is so new.
Douglass noted that if the organization’s efforts are done right, they won’t have to continue spaying and neutering so many because the colonies will dissipate.
She noted later in the session that the community lacks a low-cost spay/neuter clinic. With such a facility, “We would see huge progress.”
