Feral (Stray Cats) Program
FERAL “Stray” CATS
Who to contact about community cats:
Mary Ann O’ Donnell is the Feral “Community” Cat Manager at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay. She can be reached at 813-625-0910 or cat.spay@humanesocietytampa.org.
Humane traps can be rented for a $65 refundable deposit.
Important Information:
- You must have a reservation for feral cat spay/neuter services
- There is a $15/per cat charge
- ONE cat per trap
- Traps only, no carriers
- Click here for Program Policies
FERAL CAT INFORMATION
What is a feral “community” cat? A cat born and raised in the wild, or who has been abandoned or lost and reverted to wild ways in order to survive. While some feral cats tolerate a bit of human contact, most are too fearful and wild to be handled. Ferals often live in groups, called colonies, and take refuge wherever they can find food—rodents and other small animals and garbage. They will also try to seek out abandoned buildings, deserted cars, even dig holes in the ground to keep warm in winter months and cool during the summer heat. Essentially, feral cats belong to the community and it’s the community’s responsibility to ensure their care. There are an estimated 200,000 feral cats in Hillsborough County.
If you live in zip code 33612, please call Mary Ann to find out how you can fix the feral cats in your neighborhood for free because of a grant from PetSmart Charities – 813-625-0910.
To pick up or drop off humane traps, please come to the trap shed behind the clinic on Friday or Saturday between 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm. Please call, text , or email our Community Cat Manager, Mary Ann O’Donnell (813)625-0910 on Sunday night with the number of cats in traps that you wish to bring in on Monday . Please note that the Community Cat Manager (Mary Ann) is off on Wednesday & Thursday. Messages left on either of those days will be returned on Friday.
For information on how to drop community cats off for surgery and the Community Cat Intake Form please click here.
TRAP / NEUTER / RETURN
What is TNR? TNR (Trap/Neuter & Return) is the method of humanely trapping feral cats, having them spayed or neutered, vaccinated for rabies and then returning them to their colony to live out their lives. TNR also involves a colony caretaker who provides food, adequate shelter and monitors the cats’ health. TNR has been shown to be the least costly as well as the most efficient and humane way of stabilizing feral cat populations.
Why should you TNR? TNR helps the community by stabilizing the population of the feral colony and, over time, reducing it. At the same time, nuisance behaviors such as spraying, loud noise and fighting are largely eliminated and no more kittens are born. Yet, the benefit of natural rodent control is continued.
Need help? Help and information on how to trap a community cat to bring him/her in to the HSTB Spay/Neuter Clinic on a Feral Cat Monday can be found by clicking here.
To watch the community cat discharge video please click here.
To watch a video about our Feral Cat Mondays please click here.
OTHER PLACES YOU CAN SPAY / NEUTER CATS:
- Hillsborough County – Animal Coalition of Tampa
- Pasco or Pinellas County – Suncoast Animal League
- Polk County – Feral Fanciers
- Ruskin Area – Care Shelter
- Hernando County – PetLuv
If you live in zip code 33612 and have feral or stray cats in your community, please call Mary Ann about the special Community Cat program sponsored by PetSmart Charities! We can help you and it won’t cost you anything! Call Mary Ann at 813-625-0910 for more information. Feral Cats outside zip code 33612 will be only $15 until further notice.
BARN CAT PROGRAM
If you’ve got a barn in need of organic pest control, we’ve got cats! Click here for information on our Barn Cat Program
