MINERSVILLE - The borough has a new program to cut down on stray cats, which is becoming a nuisance to residents.
"We have a couple areas where there are large concentrations of cats and part of the problem is people see a stray cat and they start putting food out," Minersville police Chief Michael Combs said. "That just draws more cats."
Combs said the stray cat population has exploded and the biggest problem areas are New Minersville and School Street, where garbage is getting ripped open and cats are using sandboxes for litter boxes. Now, there is a remedy that requires the cooperation of residents suffering from the feline population explosion.
If a resident has a problem with the cats, the borough will provide a humane trap, for a $20 deposit. When a cat is caught, the resident will take the animal to the Hillside SPCA, Pottsville, where it will be spayed or neutered and have its ear clipped. Afterward, the cat is to be released. When the trap is returned the deposit is also given back to the resident and the borough will pay the costs for the spaying and neutering.
"We're not euthanizing the cat, we're just going to capture it and rerelease it," Combs said. "Hopefully, that will shrink this stray cat population."
According to Combs, the average lifespan of a wild cat is about two years which does not include them being fed by people.
He said it will be best if residents can capture the cats on a Wednesday or Thursday, since Hillside takes the cats to be sterilized on Fridays.
Most shelters will only take kittens since they are easier to find homes for.
"I got this idea two years ago when I was on a cruise and visited Puerto Rico," Combs, who is fond of cats, said.
He saw cats that had their ear clipped and after making some inquiries, found out they had started capturing the cats, sterilizing them and releasing them.
With the borough now trying this, as Combs announced at the borough council meeting Tuesday, he said it benefits all to have the population of stray cats under control.
"We're trying to be a little proactive here because you don't want a child contracting some disease," Combs said. "If someone has any solutions as to what else we can do with them, if we can get them a home, that would be even better."
Anyone who would like to get a trap from the borough should call the borough office at 570-544-2149.