IF YOU ARE NEEDING ASSISTANCE WITH FERAL CATS ON YOUR PROPERTY OR IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD, PLEASE COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING FORM.
We offer assistance with trapping and the spay/neuter of feral cats and community cats (friendly cats with paws on the ground that may not have an owner).
PLEASE READ TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS AND YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THIS ASSISTANCE BEFORE APPLYING:
If you are trapping cats yourself with YOUR OWN TRAPS, and need help with spaying and neutering, please complete form, and note at the end that you are trapping yourself, but need assistance with spay and neuter, and we will get our Community Assistance Coordinator in contact with you to get you on the list for Smith County Animal Clinic to be able to take the ferals in for their appointment. Note: You must PRE-PLAN for this.....we can not always immediately provide services for a cat trapped that HAS NOT been pre-approved or set up. Vets are NOT standing on standby for these to come in. We get a specific number per day at specific clinics. You will need to get your PRE-APPROVAL, and then plan to trap accordingly. WE DO NOT SUGGEST A SCHEDULED APPOINTMENT but we will need to put you on standby for the day you plan to take in, so that if you do NOT manage to get the cat trapped that you are not considered a no show at the vet. *We appreciate our vet partners working with us for appointments, and we want to be respectful of their times and schedules. Scheduling an appointment and not showing can hinder the number of appointments we receive.
***Updates as of July 1, 2022.....due to the overwhelming number of properties needing help with FERAL services in our service area the following changes are being made to the FERAL TNR Program:
Properties NEEDING assistance with help to trap the feral/community cats on property will be placed on list in priority order, depending on severity of the situation as determined by coordinator at time of assessment.
PROPERTY OWNERS will be contacted by our cat care coordinator to schedule an assessment and then schedule a time to help work your property!
YOU WILL BE REQUIRED to assist with monitoring the traps, feeding in traps, etc up until pre-scheduled trap time that is set by your coordinator. (WE ONLY have certain days and a certain number of appointments for feral/community cats, just because they are trapped does NOT mean they can be taken in immediately to the vet).
YOU WILL ALSO BE REQUIRED TO TAKE THE TRAPPED CATS TO THE VET for their scheduled spay and neuter day. **If you are unavailable to transport the cats to the vet appointments, we will work to try to find a volunteer who can assist, but this can delay your property being worked, as we do not not always have volunteers available. If you do not drive, maybe you can ask a family member or friend to help you get them to the vet and back home. We will help when we can, BUT WE ARE NOT GUARANTEEING that transportation will be available to and from the clinic. We NEED your help in order to make this program effective and efficient.
IF YOU MISS YOUR SCHEDULED DAY FOR TRAPPED CATS - You will be rerouted to the waiting list based on priority. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT you do NOT miss your scheduled day! If you know you are NOT going to be able to do it that day, you NEED to notify your coordinator in advance so traps can be relocated to another property. WE HAVE A VERY LIMITED Number of appointments and we can not afford to lose them.
FERAL drop offs are on your scheduled day, as assigned by your coordinator, at 8-8:30 am in the morning and pickup is generally 3:30-4pm (depending on your assigned vet clinic). Your coordinator will let you know which day and which vet clinic you are assigned to and HOW many can go that day. NOTE: if you are approved for 5 cats for Monday at x clinic and you trap 7, you can only take the 5 to that assigned clinic on that assigned day. This is where you will need to communicate with your coordinator about your trapping plan. LISTEN TO YOUR COORDINATOR, TAKE THEIR ADVICE, and COMMUNICATE WITH THEM! They know this trapping thing well, and have trapped thousands of kitties, it will save you time and headache to follow their plan.
THE CATS YOU TAKE TO THE VET -- MUST BE PICKED UP - NOT PICKING THEM BACK UP FROM THE VET WOULD BE CONSIDERED ABANDONMENT AND THAT IS NOT WHAT THE VETS ARE THERE TO DO. THEY ARE NOT A SHELTER FOR ABANDONED ANIMALS! IF YOU ABANDON THE CAT AT THE VET, WE WILL UTILIZE THE LAW TO THE FULLEST EXTENT POSSIBLE. If you are needing help in reducing the number of cats in your colony, your coordinator will work with you to do that, when space allows. Our coordinators do an AMAZING job with filtering the cats to barn homes, and to rescues, and adoption programs as needed, but they have to do this as spaces and locations are available and can take some time to get a spot for them.
***ANY TRAPS LEFT WITH YOU THAT ARE NOT RETURNED TO SMITH COUNTY HUMANE COORDINATOR WILL RESULT IN A LOST TRAP FEE OF $89.00 PER TRAP that will be billed to you and will be due. We are not collecting deposits up front on traps at this time, we HOPE to not have to do that, your cooperation with help in monitoring the traps and making sure they are returned to the coordinator is PARAMOUNT to the continued availability of this program.
LOW COST SPAY AND NEUTER IS AVAILABLE FOR YOUR PET CATS!!!! PET CATS (even if they are your outdoor cats, do not fall under the FERAL cat trapping program and are subject to the copay for services).
Your help with the things above will help donations and resources spread further. Every one at Smith County Humane is a volunteer and working tirelessly to help the community! We need your participation in order to continue this program! We appreciate your support!
FOR FERAL/COMMUNITY CATS: CATS MUST ARRIVE IN A HUMANE TRAP AT THE VET TO BE SPAYED OR NEUTERED UNDER OUR TNVR PROGRAM. THIS IS A MUST for the safety of the cats, and the vet staff, and transporters. PLEASE DO NOT BRING FERALS in crates. ANY FERAL IN A CARRIER WILL BE TURNED AWAY AT THE VET, NO EXCEPTIONS!!!!!
YOU MUST HAVE APPROVAL FROM YOUR TRAPPING COORDINATOR or OUR COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE COORDINATOR PRIOR TO TAKING IN ANY CATS UNDER THIS PROGRAM.
FERALS ARE SPAYED AND NEUTERED AND RECEIVE A RABIES VACCINATION at NO COST to the community or to you. Donations towards services are always appreciated but are not required. You CAN make your donation directly to the vet at the time of service to be applied toward the bill or you can send it to us directly at PO Box 74 Carthage, TN 37030 or donate online!