PORT JERVIS, NY — Two weeks ago, a few people who have been volunteering at the Humane Society of Port Jervis/Deerpark and with the feral cat Trap Neuter Release (TNR) program teamed up for 30 minutes to place calls to a national hotline that distributes $25 spay/neuter vouchers for cats using local clinics.

The product of these few dedicated cat lovers’ combined efforts was $1,000 in vouchers toward the spaying/neutering of 40 cats. This was a rare event; to have your call answered at all is unlikely. A limited number of vouchers are given out once a month in a phone lottery, so when each of the team members got 10 vouchers it was a huge win for the TNR program and the cats in the Port Jervis/Deerpark area.

The goal of stemming the number of feral and stray cats can only be attained with a concerted group effort. There is no quick fix, but this group of volunteers has helped make a difference. If you’d like to help with the project, go to Jill’s Ferals at gofundme.com/qnbccts and make a donation, or donate directly to the Humane Society at 202 Rte. 209, Port Jervis, NY 12772. Consider talking to your local government officials about helping to fund this program or about offering a voucher program of their own to help people get their animals spayed/neutered at a lowcost clinic.

It took a long time for cat populations to reach the levels we see currently. But with a coordinated community-wide effort and a source of funding, trap-neuter-release can be an effective and humane way to stabilize feral cat populations and reduce their impacts on the neighborhoods in which they live.