grant set to neuter stray cats

Paws Rescue has received a $12,000 grant to neuter 240 free-roaming cats in Warren County to fight overpopulation.

PetSmart Charities, a nonprofit, gave the organization $12,000 to increase its spay and neuter operations.

“Paws Rescue is moving forward in establishing a no-kill community,” said Leigh Conerly of Paws Rescue, “and this grant will assist us in our short-term goal of reducing the number of unwanted cats and kittens by 10 percent over the next year.”

The grant stipulates that spaying and neutering be done at the Mississippi Spay and Neuter clinic in Pearl. Cost is $25 to neuter a male cat and $35 to spay a female cat. There is additional costs for rabies vaccines.

Last year, as part of the cat sterilization program called Operation Feral Feline Fix, Paws Rescue sterilized 243 feral cats in Warren County, Conerly said.

They were able to do so with the help of donations and a $7,500 grant from the “I Care for Animals” Car Tag program in Mississippi. “We survive on donations,” Conerly said.