Barn Buddies seek homes

Just like unwanted horses, feral cats have become a hot button, polarizing, animal issue. Cats spread disease and kill wildlife. But that litter of barn kitties seemed awful cute at the time, didn’t it?

Generations later, we have tens of millions of cats living off the land, off of handouts, and out of dumpsters. According to reports, they kill about 500 million birds each year and spread toxoplasmosis, among other diseases.

On one side, folks are lobbying for an Open Season on cats.
On the other side, they say, “Let them be.”

Enter the Humane Society of the United States and others advocating for the Trap-Neuter-Return program.

Lisa Smith of the Coastal Human Society in Brunswick, Maine, explains:

“The program’s goal is to reduce the population of wild cats by focusing on colonies of uncared-for cats that breed unchecked at an alarming rate.  We spay or neuter them with the plan to release them back to the location they came from with a colony caretaker; ultimately the populations will dwindle to nonexistence over time.”

But sometimes, said Smith, these cats can’t go back to their original location. Nor can they be domesticated.

Enter the Barn Buddies program in which the CHS places undomesticated cats with adopters.

Continued Smith:

– NickerNews is in contact with horse people who have barns.
– Barns have unwanted mice that eat the grain.
– Cats love to hunt mice.
– Cats need homes.
– We’re seeking to broker a trade: Kitty homes in exchange for fewer mice in barns!

For more information, call 207 725 5051 or click here.