A wild cat relaxes on a rock at Mount Bukhan against the background of western Seoul on Jan. 27, 2021. (Yonhap)
CHANGWON, Feb. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — So-called ‘cat moms’ are stepping up to help neuter stray cats.
In Korea, ‘cat moms’ usually refer to cat-friendly caregivers who voluntarily provide food and other help for street cats, which are still shunned by many people due to groundless prejudices still prevailing in the nation: that cats are carriers of disease and even evil spirits.
Now, cat moms here have decided to help community cats through Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR). Trap-Neuter-Return is the humane & effective approach to stray and feral cats, so as to improve the lives of feral cats, enhance their relationships with the people who live near them, and decreases the size of colonies over time.
The southeastern city of Changwon, the capital city of Gyeongsangnam-do, on the southeast coast of South Korea, began a trap-neuter-release (TNR) project last week, setting up traps to capture and neuter stray cats.
Cat moms from the city are reporting online to help stray cats undergo procedures at a nearby hospital.
The city has distributed traps to cat moms, who place them in appropriate locations with food as bait. Once the cats are caught, the cat moms contact the capture squad to take them away.
Each cat mom can capture up to 10 stray cats. They are also responsible for taking care of stray cats after they are neutered, and finding areas of improvement to share with city authorities.
The city expects that working with cat moms will help neuter stray cats and effectively control their population.
Last year, individuals were responsible for renting and returning traps. This year, capture squads in each city district are distributing traps to cat moms, and turning in the cats they capture.
Since the area is divided into the Changwon, Masan, and Jinhae sectors, authorities can easily track and control the population of stray cats.
This year, the city aims to neuter 1,330 cats, allocating 119 million won (US$179,900) in funding.
The city expects that the project will help to address complaints of stray cats digging through trash or caterwauling while in heat.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
