Spring is here, and that means kitten season is upon us. When warm weather comes around female cats go into heat. From spring through the summer, many shelters become overwhelmed with unwanted kittens.
Broward County Animal Care is hosting an event Saturday with Sterling 鈥� TrapKing鈥� Davis to spread awareness about kitten season, trapping, neutering, and returning feral cats, and cat rescue and care.
He says TNR 鈥� or trap, neuter, and return 鈥� is the humane alternative for death and euthanasia for stray and feral cats.
鈥淲e go out, we catch the cats in humane traps, they don't get hurt,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey're taken to low-cost spay-neuter clinics where they're spayed, neutered, vaccinated, and then we return them back to their colony to prevent the overpopulation and spread of disease.鈥�
If left unchecked, feral cat populations can grow large enough to disrupt their local environment and animal life. TrapKing says controlling their populations helps ease their impact on the environment.
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鈥淚f you got a thousand cats and they're fighting over a bit of food, then yeah, they're going to go everywhere to scavenge and do everything,鈥� he said. But it's less scavenging, it's less hunting if we can control the population.鈥�
His non-profit TrapKing Humane Cat Solutions and Broward County Animal Care depend on donations to provide for this process at affordable rates.
TrapKing says costs at a private practice can be as much as $300 or $400, whereas his non-profit and other organizations working in TNR can provide the services for less than $30.
Changing passions
TrapKing is a rapper who gave up his successful music career to focus on his passion for cats. Ever since he was young he loved music and cats and would always sneak them into his grandma鈥檚 basement.
He ended up helping out at an animal shelter during one of his tours and the shelter asked him to stay.
Alongside TNR, TrapKing wants to encourage more people to work with their local shelters and organizations when it comes to helping with trapping. He wants to encourage not just more Black men, but men in general.
鈥淚f we get more attention, more demographics, more people engaged in it, it would be so much more beneficial to the cats 鈥� I don't think that a lot of people understand that this is something that is needed.鈥�
Workers at animal shelters can experience burnout as they get overwhelmed during kitten season and other high frequency points throughout the year.
He says education on the topic and Broward County鈥檚 efforts are important because they help lessen this load.
TrapKing will be at Broward County Animal Care on Saturday, May 4. Schedule an appointment .
