City of Great Falls Animal Shelter to stop accepting cats in traps
GREAT FALLS, Montana – Starting April 1st, 2023 the City of Great Falls Animal Shelter will no longer be taking in trapped cats in an effort to eliminate housing and euthanizing feral cats.
“After careful consideration of the cost to care for and euthanize feral cats, coupled with the risk it poses to the staff, we will no longer be in-taking trapped cats to the shelter,” said Ameilia Caldwell, Operations Manager. “This will save lives and free up resources for those animals that truly need our care,” Caldwell says.
Cats in traps are predominately feral. Feral cats are unsocialized outdoor cat who have either never had any physical contact with humans, or human contact has diminished enough over time that they are no longer accustomed to it. They are adept at finding their own resources in their natural environment. Feral cats thrive outdoors and are not reliant on people.
Humans are unfamiliar and scary to them. When held captive these animals will fight to get away. This makes them dangerous to themselves, the staff at the facility and unsafe to adopt to the public.
Citizens who can safely and humanely contain lost and abandoned domestic pet cats in a standard animal carrier may bring them to the shelter. The shelter cautions that citizens should only handle animals that willingly approach them and are willing to be picked up.
For more information on feral cats in the community and how to live with them, visit https://greatfallsmt.net/animalshelter/community-cats.
