LAS VEGAS -- It's estimated there are thousands of homeless cats in the Las Vegas valley. A local organization that focuses on keeping feral cats from breeding reached a major milestone Wednesday.
Keith Williams keeps a look out for feral cats. "They just kind of wander around," he said. "They primarily go where the food is."
Williams is president of the Community Cat Coalition of Clark County or C5. The coalition's goal is to trap and neuter or spay feral cats, and then return them to where they came from in the valley.
On Wednesday, an orange tabby became the 10,000th cat to undergo surgery. C5 began its mission in 2010.
"We are reeling in the cats, but with 300,000 of them, it's going to take a little while," Williams said.
Southern Nevada has a large feral cat population due to it being a transient community where people come and go, often leaving their pets behind. The foreclosure crisis only made the problem worse. The warm climate also leads to cats mating year-round. Female cats can get pregnant at four months old.
Karen Layne with the Las Vegas Humane Society believes solving the feral cat problem will help solve the cat overpopulation issue. She said, feral cats are not valued and sometimes purposely harmed.
"They try to poison them. They put their dogs on them. It's a horrible situation."
She said the trap, neuter, and return efforts also lower the number of cats in shelters where many of them end up being euthanized.
"You've got to try to solve this issue so you create value for these animals," Layne said.
"It's really about people coming together and making the community a better place," said Williams.
Animal experts say feral cats that are spayed or neutered are healthier, better behaved and live longer lives than those that aren't.
