DOA To Offer Feral Cat GrantsHARTFORD - The State Department of Agriculture will have a new grant program for the upcoming 2007 fiscal year. This program is made available due largely to the success of the agency's Animal Population Control Program
DOA To Offer Feral Cat Grants
HARTFORD - The State Department of Agriculture will have a new grant program for the upcoming 2007 fiscal year. This program is made available due largely to the success of the agencyâs Animal Population Control Program (APCP), which will also be administrating the program.
Grant money will provide benefits for the vaccination and sterilization of Connecticut feral cats. The agency defines a feral cat as being wild by nature and not been domesticated.
Public Act 01-87 states that the Commissioner of Agriculture may set aside up to $40,000 each fiscal year for the purpose of providing assistance to charitable programs for the sterilization and vaccination of feral cats. Previously, that assistance had not been available due to program financial constraints.
The APCP has slowly seen a downward trend in the number of pets impounded and adopted from municipal facilities over the past six years.
According to Agriculture Commissioner F. Philip Prelli, âI felt the time was right to make these funds available for Connecticut feral cats as outlined in state statute. Until now, adding additional services could have causes a financial strain on the APCP budget and a possible suspension that I would cer-tainly not want to see.â
Since 2001, APCP has provided vaccination and sterilization benefits to more than 15,000 adopted dogs and cats and more than 40,000 pets since the programâs inception in 1995. Previously, the only way to receive state benefits was by adopting a pet from one of the approximately 150 pounds in Con-necticut.
Starting in fiscal year 2007, qualified charitable groups will be eligible to receive grant money for the vaccination and sterilization of feral cats.
APCP will be accepting applications up to the deadline date of July 31, and anticipates presenting grant awards by September 1. To receive an application, contact the APP office 860-713-2507, Monday through Friday, 8 am to 4:30 pm or go to the agencyâs website at www.ct.gov/doag and follow the directions to download a feral cat grant application.