Group aims to reduce feline euthanasia

MOUNT PLEASANT -- Feline Freedom Coalition members linked nearly 5,000 neon bands and staked them in the grassy lawn in front of the Mount Pleasant Visitor Center on Friday to draw attention to the feral cats lurking outside area grocery stores and trash bins.

The bands symbolize cat collars and represent the number of cats put down in Charleston County in 2008, said Diane Straney, coalition president.

Volunteers working with organizations such as Pet Helpers feed thousands of feral cats and also trap, neuter and return the animals to control populations across the Lowcountry.

However, animal control must trap and euthanize the cats when a complaint is made. Euthanasia doesn't reduce numbers, Straney said.

"You can't kill them, to control the problem," she said, adding that more cats would just move in.

The coalition and other animal welfare groups are working to educate the public on how to properly control feral cats in their second year of participating in the ASPCA Mission: Orange program. The mission has a goal of reducing the number of animals euthanized in shelters nationwide to 30 percent.

In Charleston County, about 60 percent of all animals that went into the shelter in 2008 were euthanized. Charleston County organizations involved in Mission: Orange discovered that feral cats were the most at-risk population probably because cats roam free in greater numbers than dogs.

Patsy Phipps, a coalition member from Mount Pleasant, started feeding cat colonies in the area nine years ago after three stray cats walked up to her as she sat in her parked car.

"How could you not?" Phipps asked.

She is one of a handful of Mount Pleasant volunteers who manage 36 feral cat colonies found between the foot of the Arthur Ravenel Bridge and S.C. Highway 41.

This spring, a Charleston County woman faced fines and jail time after she was caught feeding a pack of feral marsh cats around her home because of state rabies laws that say anyone who cares for an animal technically owns it. Charleston County Animal Control eventually dropped the potential charges and the county and Charleston Animal Society agreed to help the woman sterilize and vaccinate the cats.

On Tuesday, Charleston County Council will consider an ordinance that would make it legal for cats to roam free in the county.

Making it legal for cats to roam free in North Charleston, Mount Pleasant and Charleston is just one of the Feline Freedom Coalition's goals.

Straney hopes to form swat teams of cat colony caregivers that would trap, neuter and return cats in greater numbers.

"If you get the public engaged, the public will help you," Straney said.

Pet Helpers is presenting a class today on how to manage a feral cat colony from 1-3 p.m. at 1430 Folly Road, James Island.

Reach Jessica Johnson at 937-5921 or jjohnson@postandcourier.com.