Cat Lovers Seek Help

Island Cats is seeking volunteers to help with a trap-neuter-return (TNR) project on Roosevelt Island late this month, conducted with the ASPCA and Neighborhood Cats and with the cooperation of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC). Considered to be the most humane and effective way of reducing stray-cat populations, TNR involves the trapping and neutering of abandoned and feral cats. Unadoptible cats are returned to their colonies, where caretakers feed and shelter them.

Trapping, which will be done by trained personnel, will begin in the late afternoon on Thursday, October 26, and continue through Saturday, October 28. An ASPCA spay/neuter van will pick up and return the cats after surgery. Two days are required for recovery. Island Cats hopes to trap in several locations.

Volunteers will be needed to watch from a distance and relay word, preferably by cell phone, when a cat is trapped. Volunteers are also needed to help register and sit with the cats, who will be in ASPCA-approved cages traps in a holding space. People with cars are especially needed to help transport the (fully covered) cages to the holding spaces once a day, and deliver and pick up the cats from the ASPCA van on Sunday. Volunteers should e-mail Island Cats at ripyy@care2.com or call 212-593-1054.

Island Cats also seeks loving foster homes for adoptible cats.