My name is Robert Williams and I live in the town of Fallston, NC. Fallston is called a Town, but in many ways it is a rural area. As often happens in rural areas, pets are often “let out” when their owners no longer want them.
I am not particularly a “cat person” but I also do not want to see animals go hungry or in some other way have harm come to them. So, when two female cats of unknown origin started coming around my house looking for something to eat, I would feed them with table scraps and later I would purchase cat food for them.
The next thing I knew, those two female cats had kittens. Of course, I did not want to destroy the kittens or the mama cats. It was interesting watching the kittens grow, play and do the things that kittens do.
Then there were more kittens and the kittens, now grown, started having kittens too. Soon I was buying cat food, two 30-pound bags at a time. I was overrun with cats and did not know what to do.
Then I heard about the Community Cat Program during a visit to the Shelby Liver Mush Fest when I ran into my State Representative, Tim Moore, who also happens to be Speaker of the House. Tim just happened to be talking to a Cleveland County Animal Control person, Holley Wall, and introduced me to Holley. I immediately asked Holley about my ever-growing cat population and what Animal Control could do for me.
Soon thereafter I received a call from Mr. Tyler Moore from the Cleveland County Animal Control. Mr. Moore informed me of the new Community Cat Program and we made arrangements for Tyler to visit my home.
At this first visit Tyler Moore informed me of the details of this Community Cat Program. Basically, Tyler would capture the cats in “humane” traps, transport the cats to a facility where they would be spayed or neutered and vaccinated. The cats who were “fixed” would also have one ear clipped to indicate that they were fixed. Then the cats would be returned a few days later.
This was exactly what I needed to solve a burgeoning cat population problem, so I asked Mr. Moore to begin immediately. Which he did as he had brought traps with him.
Eleven cats were trapped that first day. The next trip out resulted in another five being trapped. Then three. Totaling 19 cats that have been fixed and just two female cats to go.
I am often critical of government programs that do little and cost a lot. As many citizens are. But this Cleveland County Community Cat Program turned out to be highly effective in resolving my cat population problem. Mr. Tyler Moore has been very courteous and helpful in resolving my cat problem as well as being a very able and effective representative of this new Community Cat Program. I plan on making a trip to the Cleveland County Commissioner’s meeting in the very near future to express my gratitude in this matter and to suggest to the Commissions that they model their other programs to be as effective as the Community Cat Program.
