Dozens of cats to be rescued by Mohawk Hudson Humane Society
Last week, NEWS10 reported on dozens of cats taking over a property in Montgomery County. News10 is checking in to see what progress has been made in the rescuing of those cats.
Edgar Moore has lived in his Montgomery County home his entire life and he's finally getting the help he needs. The Mohawk Hudson Humane Society (MHHS) is stepping up vowing to capture and take care of all those cats.
Several area cat rescue groups came together last week to assist but quickly learned they needed more help than they could provide.
“A lot of cats and kittens are getting hit by cars out on the roadway and they went over to see what they could do to help and realized that it was going to be a very intensive effort and they needed some more resources,” said Andrew Fiumano, Director of Outreach and Humane Law Enforcement with Mohawk Hudson Humane Society (MHHS).
The MHHS says their team was able to assess the situation and capture a few of the cats who are now in their care. They estimate over 40 cats are on the property.
“And they’ll need to be either spayed or neutered, vaccinated, microchipped and then whatever illnesses they might have, you know if they have any infections things like that. So, we're expecting the cost to be about $470 per animal,” said Fiumano.
That’s nearly $20,000 just to cover the basics.
Animal Law Professor, Valerie Lang Waldin, says the problem is easier to fix than one might think, and it requires a more widespread approach, much like what happened for dogs. Waldin says decades ago when the dog population grew out of control the state acted and required facilities to house and take care of the dogs.
“What has to happen in NY is mandatory Animal Control not just dog control. That would solve everything,” said Waldin.
Senator James Tedisco, a proponent for animal rights agrees.
“You know what the real problem is, you know, we have a lot of dogs out there too, but we have a tremendous amount of cats. It boils down to overpopulation and spay and neuter programs. And we have to get these cats into spay and neuter programs just like we do our dogs,” said Tedisco.
The cats and kittens will be ready for adoption in the coming days after they have been cleared by the veterinarian team.