Article brought attention to ongoing issue in the area

I am glad you recently published the article titled "Freehold Board of Health Turns Attention To Strays" (News Transcript, Jan. 24, 2007). It shed some much-needed light on the stray cat issues our communities face, and I would also like to comment on a few things mentioned in the article.

The Monmouth County SPCA currently charges the municipalities with whom we have animal control contracts $100 per stray cat brought in to the shelter (not "an additional $65" as printed in the article); this is due to soaring workman's comp costs directly associated with the handling of feral cats and/or aggressive animals.

Freehold Board of Health member Samantha Daesener is quoted as saying that "the SPCA will only take two cats per week." Actually, in the contract renewal letters we sent to the municipalities, we stated that "during the summer months the intake of stray cats may be limited to two per week."

This is due to the fact that late spring and summer are notorious as being "kitten season," and the influx of felines into the shelter is enough to boggle the mind. It is at those times, when every spare inch of the building is taken up by cats, that we are forced to limit households and municipalities to two cats per week. We serve 19 municipalities, so you can see that if each one brought two cats per day, the numbers quickly become overwhelming.

Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) is an excellent way to deal with the feral cat problem. It has worked well for many counties, including Cape May. It is a humane solution, while providing the cats with some basic health necessities and the all-important spay-neuter surgery.

The ideas your article offered to prevent unwanted strays are on the mark. The best thing cat owners can do is keep their cats indoors and make sure they are spayed and neutered. This cannot be stressed enough.

Finally, I'd like to add that pregnant women should wear gloves when changing cat litter if they find they must; and the Monmouth County SPCA offers a vaccine clinic every Friday afternoon. Information on that can be obtained by calling the clinic at (732) 542-3125.

Ursula Goetz

executive director

Monmouth County SPCA

Eatontown