WGEM.com: Quincy News, Weather, Sports, and RadioNew program set to control Adams Co. feral cat population

New program set to control Adams Co. feral cat population

ADAMS COUNTY (WGEM) -- There are packs of feral cats running wild in Adams County and with no ordinance against stray cats, the problem is growing.

Residents living near the animals are concerned they'll catch diseases. But now, a new program is about to get underway to help contain those animals.

At Halfpap mobile home park there are cats everywhere you look.

Halfpap resident Chuck Tracy says, "you'd see five or six of them right by you and if you walked up and down the trailer court you're gonna see packs of them."

Tracy has been dealing with the problem for the better part of a decade.

"You're trying to mow your yard and you know you're stepping in stuff you don't want to and that is a health hazard. I mean there's been incidences of kids getting ringworm and stuff like that," says Tracy.

Ringworm disease isn't the only concern. Feral cats aren't vaccinated against rabies either. The problem has led Adams County animal control and the human society to start a trap, neuter and release program.

The goal is to control the cat population and make the cats healthier.

"They get a rabies vaccination which makes them safer for humans, especially children who see animals free and may want to try to pick them up or play with them," says Sally Westerhoff with the Quincy Humane Society.

The program is funded through a national grant, and the county selected Halfpap because of the severity of the infestation.

For people like Tracy, this is a relief.

"Nobody actually wants to take them into their house and take care of them but want to enjoy them running around. Well that's not right because everybody else has to deal with them," says Tracy.

The program is expected to be underway this starting this week.

A word of advice from the Humane Society; vaccinate your pets against rabies and have them wear flea collars. Also do not let your children play with stray cats, and do not approach an animal you don't know.