Cognac puts the package on the sterilization of cats and it works

This young stray cat is one of seven tomcats captured last week by the municipal police of Cognac, as part of the new sterilization campaign set up in conjunction with the 30 Million Friends Foundation and the departmental pound.

At first I fed them but…

This young stray cat is one of seven tomcats captured last week by the municipal police of Cognac, as part of the new sterilization campaign set up in conjunction with the 30 Million Friends Foundation and the departmental pound.

At first I gave them food but they told me that it was absolutely not necessary.

Seven sectors of the city had been targeted for its overly invasive population of so-called “free” cats. “We spend several months watching what is happening, people report to us when stray cats come to disturb them, enter their homes, urinate or degrade courtyards and gardens”says Bruno Mettavant, the acting head of the municipal police.

The latter is responsible for leading this new campaign. For three days, he goes there, installs the cages with a bait. Ten in all have been deployed at the various sites. Then comes back as soon as a cat is trapped.

That morning, we headed to rue de Cadix, where Carine, a resident, had just alerted the policeman: two cats had been caught in the cages set up in her yard. “There is a third who hangs out with them but he escaped”, she observes. These three cats have been squatting in his yard for two years with all the inconvenience that goes with it. “At the beginning I gave them food but they told me that it was absolutely not necessary to do that. I stopped but they continue to prowl here and at the neighbor’s house that bothers a lot. » Bruno Mettavant embarks the two tomcats in his van, not without a twinge in the heart for Carine. “I got attached. One of them had become my bodyguard…”

Euthanized or released

Next step, impasse du Canada, near boulevard de Châtenay, where three cages have been installed in François’ garden. He too made the mistake of feeding stray cats. Since then, it’s been the invasion. “I have seven or eight, and others are lying around the house. » He had two males castrated and it was soon the turn of the two cats, who had just had a litter, to soon be sterilized by the Brigitte Bardot association. In one of the cages, it is the little redhead that Bruno Mettavant comes to recover. “That one, she is wild and very fearful”says Francois.

Head to the Châteaubernard veterinary clinic, with which the City has signed a partnership agreement. The protocol is simple. “We collect the cats, we check if they are identified – in which case we call their owners – then we test them to find out if they are carriers of FIV (cat AIDS) or leucosis, two viral diseases that affect the immune system and which are transmitted by scratches, bites and during reproduction”says Dr. Stéphanie Hersan.

Sterilized or euthanized

If the very quick test is positive, the cats are handed over to the departmental pound. After a legal period of eight days, they will be euthanized. If it is negative, the tomcats will be sterilized and brought back, after a rest period, where they were captured, after having been identified in the name of the 30 Million Friends Foundation (with a chip and a mark on their ear easily recognizable). This is what happened to the two young cats who squatted at Carine’s – a male and a female – and to the “redhead”. They were luckier than three other FIV-positive kitties whose days are numbered.

The next sterilization campaign is scheduled for October. In the areas that will be targeted, residents will be notified by mail. “We advise them to keep their cats at home for three days, or to put a collar or a small piece of wool around their necks to identify them easily. » And thus avoid unnecessary capture.

Compulsory sterilization

It has been several years since the City decided to act, certain neighborhoods being confronted with an alarming feline overpopulation. Especially in the city center. “Rue Dupuis or rue Richard, near the Public Garden, it was an invasion, recalls Bruno Mettavant. We put the cages in and we could pick up the cats ten minutes later. And start over all day. »
Proof of the effectiveness of sterilization campaigns, in which associations such as Scat Cat and Company actively participate, the number of tomcats captured by the city has dropped dramatically. “Before, we could take 40 on a campaign. Last time in October, we only took ten, this time seven. That’s a good sign. Maybe one day we won’t take it anymore, he hopes. For this, owners would have to systematically sterilize their cats, as required by law. “That’s the only way we can solve the problem. »