To the Editor:

“Population shrinking and growing older,” a headline from a recent newspaper article, is exactly Haywood Animal Welfare Association’s spay/neuter, trap-neuter-return (TNR) program’s goal for free-roaming cat colonies in Haywood County.

Through generous donations and a grant from PetSmart Charities, TNR volunteers humanely capture neighborhood cats for sterilization surgery and vaccination. The cats remain overnight at the Humane Alliance Spay/Neuter Clinic and are returned pain-free to their capture site and caretakers. TNR is a godsend to elderly caretakers who cannot afford the expense of both fixing and feeding the cats outside their doors and cannot manage the physical challenge of trapping and transporting to get the job done.

HAWA spay/neuter’s TNR cats are “eartipped” — meaning the left ear’s tip is removed during surgery — as visual proof of their status. No more kittens, a calmer environment, healthier cats, and an affordable cat food budget are real benefits for our aging residents who open their hearts to homeless cats. It’s also a wise intervention: who will care for all the cats when the caretaker’s estate is settled? Will their fate be shelter euthanasia?

Call HAWA spay/neuter at 828.452.1329 or visit our website at www.hawaspayneuter.org for more information on our low-cost spay/neuter mission and related programs. Give online or mail your donation to P.O. Box 992, Waynesville, N.C., 28786.

Susan Kumpf

HAWA Spay/Neuter Board VP & TNR Coordinator

Crabtree