Animal lover trying to humanely control population 
This news is taken from News-Press.com
Animal lover trying to humanely control population - 4 Paws traps, tames homeless cats
Originally published on July 21, 2007
A Cape Coral woman has taken to the streets to trap and tame homeless cats and their offspring to help control cat overpopulation.
Nancy Taylor owns and operates 4 Paws Pet Rescue & Rehabilitation, a nonprofit organization specializing in trapping, socializing and adopting kittens and cats from feral colonies, which she began last summer while working as a legal secretary.
She since has seen the need to rehabilitate the wild animals so great that in January she decided to trap and socialize the felines fulltime and quit her day job.
“My goal is to get all the kittens off the streets before they become feral cats,” Taylor said. “And to take the burden off of animal services.”
Ferals are house pets that have wandered off or are abandoned. They revert to wild behavior and if they have not been spayed or neutered, can give birth to wild kittens when then can produce more ferals and in a yea’s time can produce several litters of four to six kittens each. They can be elusive and not trust humans.
Taylor has been trapping and socializing wild felines for about eight years, and in January, began working fulltime to rid the streets of feral cat colonies.
“I began doing this where there was a feral colony on my street around Santa Barbara Boulevard and Nicholas Parkway,” Taylor said. “I didn’t know there was such a thing as a feral colony till I moved there.”She is among an undetermined number of animal lovers struggling to humanely control the county’s escalating wild cat population, estimated at around 200,000 to 400,000, according to animal control officials.
“This is our biggest animal control issue,” said Ria Brown, Lee County Animal Services spokeswoman. “Cats are like dogs and not allowed to roam off their owner’s property, but a lot of people don’t keep their cats confined.”
Taylor’s organization is currently fostering more than 50 kittens, most of which are wild and have never had any human contact. It can take anywhere from one to three months or more to tame a wild cat.
Feral cat colonies can be found near restaurant trash bins, under mobile homes, along roads or right of ways and in empty lots.
Taylor uses a technique known as trap/neuter/release or TNR which helps to control cat populations without killing the felines. She will have the kittens tested for diseases, vaccinate, sterilize and tame them. If they are tame enough, she then tries to find homes for the animals.
“We are not a shelter facility at this time, all rescues are kept in foster homes,” Taylor said.
As for the adults, she vaccinates and sterilizes them and releases them back to where they were found, as long as there is a responsible caregiver.
“It has to be a stable, established and safe environment for me to return the cat,” Taylor said. “I don’t return the kittens, but try to get them tamed and find them good homes.”
From January through April, Lee County Animal Services has received 2,289 cats of which 313 were adopted and 35 returned to their owners. More than 1,800 cats had to be euthanized.
Because Taylor is busy caring for more than 50 cats, she has asked Scott Fravel, a professional wildlife trapper, to help so that she could spend more time taming the wild felines and finding them proper homes.
“I also realize the need for more people to assist me in the taming process,” Taylor said.
She is considering holding a class to educate people about feral kitten’s behavior and how to properly tame them.
She is also in need of food, cleaning supplies, litter, litter boxes and other supplies. Volunteers are also needed to help trap and foster kittens and help with grants.
Donations can be dropped off at Tuffy Auto Service Center, 13061 McGregor Blvd., Fort Myers; or at Fort Myers Veterinary Hospital, 2565 N. Airport Road, Fort Myers.
Those wanting to know more can call Taylor at 292-2474 or visit www.4pawspetrescue.com.
— Write to Mary Hawk, The News-Press, Central Cape Business Park, 1490 Pine Island Road, Building 3, Suites B & C, Cape Coral, FL 33909 or mhawk@news-press.com.
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