The community cat population has escalated to an all-time high according to Heartland Animal Rescue Team (HART) which also announced an immediate change in its stray intake policy. In the past all stray cats were received without an appointment, meaning if someone found a cat, it was taken to HART.
HART has accepted about 15-20 cats/kittens a day for the past few weeks, HART officials said. There is no more room to house these cats, a spokesperson said.
In striving to remain a low-kill shelter, HART does not take animals in just to euthanize them, HART officials said in a news release.
All stray cats will be put on a surrender list with a date to come in. The person who found the cat will be asked to care for it until that date. HART realizes the person calling does not own the cat but said they were at a loss to come up with an alternate plan. This is a community problem and everyone needs to work together, HART officials said in a news release.
This new policy will become effective today, Wednesday.
