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PetSmart Charities Grant Will Allow Animal Center To Neuter Roaming Cats

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PetSmart Charities Grant Will Allow Animal Center To Neuter Roaming Cats

The Animal Center has received a $5,100 grant from PetSmart Charities, Inc to increase its number of spay/neuter operations for free-roaming cats in 2008. The Animal Center’s three-year-old Feral Cat Assistance Program, which focuses on sterilization efforts for stray and feral cats, has successfully neutered more than 275 feral cats to proactively fight the area’s dire cat overpopulation problem.

The PetSmart Charities grant allows The Animal Center to provide subsidized spay/neuter for approximately 120 cats at a cost to the caretaker of $10. In addition to sterilization, local veterinarians partnering with the organization will give each cat a brief exam, vaccinations (rabies, distemper, upper/lower respiratory infection), and treatment for internal/external parasites, to be paid by The Animal Center, a Newtown-based charity focused on animal welfare.

“We’re excited to increase the sterilization capacity of our Feral Cat Assistance Program in Danbury this year,” said Monica Roberto, president of The Animal Center. “When you consider that feral cats can produce two litters per year, with an average litter size of four kittens, it’s easy to see how in only a short period of time carefully planned and implemented sterilization programs could produce a dramatic reduction in the number of unwanted cats born.”

“The Animal Center’s spay/neuter program is a great example of taking the initiative to improve the local community,” said Susan Della Maddalena, executive director of PetSmart Charities. “Targeted programs like these are the key to successful, low-cost spay/neuter in local communities. Cumulatively, they are making a huge impact on pet overpopulation nationwide.”

To qualify, cats must be unowned, free-roaming, stray, or feral in Danbury. Humane trapping equipment and instruction on use, cat recovery and release will be provided to everyone participating in the program. For more information about this low-cost spay/neuter program for free-roaming cats, contact Jeanne Sorrentino at 270-0228 or info@TheAnimalCenter.org.

The center’s Feral Cat Assistance Program humanely and effectively reduces the feral cat populations through Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), where stray and feral cats already living outdoors are humanely trapped, vaccinated and sterilized by veterinarians, then returned to their familiar habitat under the lifelong care of volunteers.

The Animal Center also provides rescue and adoption services for homeless and abandoned kittens in the Newtown area. In just over three years of operations, The Animal Center has helped more than 600 cats in the greater Danbury area. For more information, visit TheAnimalCenter.org.

PetSmart Charities, Inc is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that creates and supports programs that save the lives of homeless pets, raise awareness of companion animal welfare issues, and promote healthy relationships between people and pets. Since 1994, PetSmart Charities has funded more than $70 million in grants and programs benefiting animal welfare organizations, and, through its in-store pet adoption program, has helped save the lives of more than 3.3 million pets.

To learn more about how PetSmart Charities is working to help find a lifelong, loving home for every pet, visit PetSmartCrarities.org or call 800-423-PETS (7387).

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