Our Commitment to Happier and Healthier Communities
Feral Trap Neuter Release
KCAAP continues to be a leader and mentor to Cities that wish to start a TNR program. In 2006, we worked with the City of Terrell to institute a small program but thanks to a grant from Global Network Services in 2008 we were able to develop a full scale TNR program in Crandall, TX. Crandall continually tried to deal with the growing feral and abandon cat complaints from residents by trapping and then killing them. But the cycle continued with breeding, increased suffering, increased nuisance complaints and a rise in costs to animal control. Trapping and killing cats proved to be cruel, inefficient and expensive and met strong opposition from cat feeders and private cat owners whose cats have been trapped and then killed at the shelter. The number of complaints had not decreased and the cat population grew larger than ever. There was no organized effort to stop the endless death and suffering of these cats.
However, we didn’t just fix cats; our strategy was to fully educate the citizens of Crandall on TNR through group meetings, flyers and newspaper coverage while neutering as many feral felines as possible in predetermined locations. Crandall officials located problem areas where the majority of the complaints are originating and the cats have a clear caregiver. KCAAP and Crandall animal control worked with these caretakers to move feeding locations into discreet areas that are adjacent to the current feeding sites. Local volunteers built new shelters that were placed in these vicinities. These actions minimized the public complaints of cats on cars and of cats defecating in gardens. The sterilization of the cats will control the complaints of yowling, fighting, spraying and unhealthy cats roaming the neighborhoods, while controlling the population of these colonies. Our goal was to prove TNR is a full management program that reduces birth rates, citizen complaints and animal control cost in City of Crandall. We fixed over 200 free roaming and feral cats that live within the City limits. In 2009 we will track our colonies to determine whether our program work.
Vaccinations
The Department of State Health Services states that only 32% of the companion animals in Texas are currently vaccinated against rabies. Less than 4% of the domestic cats and dogs in rural east Texas are current on rabies immunization even through the State law requires every cat and dog to be vaccinated not later than 4 months of age. These are not good statistic since the State of Texas has been under rabies quarantine for over 8 years.
The Kaufman County Animal Awareness Project mobilize all county residents, through a coordinated program with the County Commissioners, city governments, schools, civic organizations, media, and churches, to implement a rabies vaccination program as part of our four-part S.A.V.E. program (Sterilization, Adoption, Vaccination and Education). Our goal was to vaccinate an additional 5,000 animals each year with a 3 year rabies vaccine. Since we began we have vaccinated over 15,000 animals in the County. In 2007, KCAAP made an appearance at 24 festivals and service are events to increase the awareness for the need for annual pet vaccinations. In 2009 we expect to vaccinate an additional 10,000 animals in East Texas.