CLEVELAND – The local animal population is becoming so out of control that the City of Cleveland is now offering services to fix cats – for free.
Residents can bring their cat to the second Operation Nip-Tuck at the Cleveland City Kennel on Saturday.
In addition to being spayed and neutered, cats will get shots, a microchip, a collar and personal tag at no cost.
“One female mother over a seven year period can produce 420,000 cats between her and her offspring, so we have quite a kitten crisis, not only her but across the country,” said Amy Beichler, PAWS Executive Director.
The program will fix 150 area cats, and pet owners must sign up for the service ahead of time.
Beichler said the biggest problem with the local pet population is residents feeding stray animals.
“It’s absolutely huge. What residents sometimes, well-meaning residents sometimes don’t understand is if you’re feeding that outdoor cat, if you feed you breed,” she said. “So you just have to take it a step further, get them spayed and neutered and maintain the colony, but a lot of residents don’t do that, so they reproduce, reproduce, reproduce and what we see is a lot of disease.”
Operation Nip-Tuck is a grant-funded collaboration with PAWS, Stautzenberger College, Cleveland Animal Control Services and the Cleveland Animal Protective League.
The event from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 2, at the Cleveland City Kennel. The Kennel is located at 2690 West 7th Street. All cats must be registered for the services ahead of time.
For more information, go to www.pawsohio.org/nip_tuck.html.