MESA, Ariz. — It's a problem not unique to Mesa, but one the city wants to address.
Every year, Mesa Animal Control officials claim they receive about 1,500 calls from residents complaining about feral and stray cats.
"It’s a very big crisis,” said Cathy Talbot who is well familiar with the issue. “This year it’s been brutal."
She is part of Purrfect Endings Feline Rescue: a nonprofit that helps feral felines get the help they need. Tilbot said they've never been busier.
Her home in Mesa is currently filled with more than a dozen stray cats that were found all over the East Valley. Talbot said they get several calls and e-mails every day and estimates they take in about 10 to 25 cats a week to get them fixed and back in good health before they are released or adopted.
“Cats are just getting pregnant over and over and over again and that causes sick kittens and that’s what we have a lot of. Kittens that we bring in," Talbot said. "They don’t last but a couple of months and then they pass away.”
Which is why she is relieved the City of Mesa announced its own trap, neuter, and return program.
During a recent city council study session two members with Mesa's animal control discussed the program that was modeled after Tempe's.
It will rely on volunteers to trap the feral cats with humane trapping kits, transport them to a local veterinarian to have them fixed, and then the cats will be released back to where they were found.
"It will reduce the cat population, and it will also help the overall health of the neighborhood," said animal control officer Miguel Hernandez.
The cost to purchase traps, additional animal control specialists and veterinarian services adds up to $347,000. Money the City has already allocated in the upcoming budget to launch the program.
However, Talbot believes this type of program needs to show up in more places than just Mesa.
"It’s not just the East Valley it’s all over Arizona,” she said. "I will gladly be a part of the process."
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