The Page Alley Cat Project, a local trap-neuter-release program designed to curb feral cat populations, celebrated its one-year anniversary this fall and is still going strong.

The program is the brainchild of Page resident and dog-grooming veteran Angie Woodberry. Working through a cooperative partnership with Kanab’s Best Friends animal shelter, Woodberry says the project has processed roughly 330 cats in the Page area since September 2016. 

Specifically, the project involves Woodberry and Best Friends employees humanely trapping a colony of feral cats every month to take back to the Best Friends animal shelter in Kanab. The animals then receive a slate of vaccinations, are spayed or neutered, and finally ear-tipped — where a small portion of the tip of the cat’s left ear is cut off. This marking is a universal sign for a fixed feral cat.

The service through Best Friends is free of charge and spans towns in Northern Arizona and Southern Utah. 

TNR has gained momentum in the last decade because it has proven effective at curbing feral populations in areas where it is utilized. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has dubbed TNR as “the most humane, effective and financially sustainable strategy for controlling free-roaming cat populations,” and “the only proven humane and effective method to manage feral cat colonies.”

TNR efforts have been shown to not only help reduce feral cat populations, but improve the health and adoptability of semi-feral or timid cats mixed up in the colonies. Sterilized cats also naturally exhibit less territorial or aggressive behavior, and have been shown to contribute less to nuisance or damage complaints. Further, counties and municipalities that have adopted TNR programs through their city-run facilities and shelters have reported moderate cost savings (as opposed to impounding and euthanizing the animals), significantly fewer euthanizations and fewer overall cats in the system.

Many clinics will send captured animals to farms where barn cats are in high demand for their mousing abilities. 

Kittens or cats that appear tame or affectionate are sometimes taken to shelters or foster care for future adoption.

But wherever the cats end up, the priority is always to release them where it is believed they will live a happy and healthy life. 

Coordinating with Best Friends and locating feral colonies around Page is near exclusively the volunteerism of Woodberry. A self-proclaimed cat lover, she is now hoping to find homes for a group of kittens (pictured A1) picked up in the latest sweep. The kittens, at the time this issue of the Chronicle went to press, are fit for adoption and in need of good homes. Potential adopters can call Woodberry at (928) 614-8586.

“We’ve been working with a few hoarding situations,” Woodberry said. “One place had more than 20 cats living at the residence… But we’re making progress and are seeing colonies disperse or diminish in the areas where they were released.”

Although the monthly mass trappings account for the bulk of the work for the Alley Cat Project, Woodberry still takes the opportunity to process the lone stray or the cat that gets left behind after a colony is sent off to Kanab.

Dr. Jerry Roundtree of the Page Animal Hospital assists the project with a discounted rate for spaying and neutering such cats, Woodberry said.

A gofundme page to support the project can be found at gofund.me/2j3wfrw. According to Woodberry, all donations strictly go toward neuterings for cats that go through the Page Animal Hospital, as well expenses associated with adoption.