The Kenton County Animal Shelter (KCAS) has updated its ordinances to increase life saving efforts by bringing a Community Cat Diversion Program to the County.
KCAS is working with Target Zero, a national charitable initiative that helps implement ‘Best Practices’ in shelters, Northern Kentucky Area Development District (NKADD), and The Joanie Bernard Foundation to make change possible.
The ordinance was officially updated at the Kenton County Fiscal Court meeting on September 13.
KCAS will receive grant funding to support lifesaving efforts. This is a first of its kind, multi-county collaboration that will completely fund a Community Cat Diversion Program for one year in the NKADD region. Butler County, Cincinnati SPCA, Jessamine County, Louisville, and Indianapolis are just a few surrounding organizations that have successfully implemented this program.
A Community Cat Diversion program involves trapping, spaying/neutering, ear tipping, and releasing cats back into the community. The goal of this program is to decrease the number of free roaming cats in the community over time. This program will also increase public health and safety as well as increase live outcome at the shelter.
The Joanie Bernard Foundation grant will fund spay/neuter and vaccinations for community cats. Cats belonging to fixed income owners may also be spayed/neutered and vaccinated at no cost.
All other residents of a NKADD county may be charged up to a $20 co-pay.
Once the program is established, service providers, in addition to the Ohio Alleycat Resource and Spay/Neuter Clinic and United Coalition for Animals Spay/Neuter Clinic, will be listed on the NKADD website.
“These changes reflect what is happening in animal welfare across the country. Through the mentorship of Target Zero and the implementation of ‘Best Practices’ we have already made a difference in our live outcomes, and we will only do better in the future,” said Elizabeth Cochran, Director of KCAS.
“We are pleased to assist our counties with the implementation of this initiative, which will not only improve outcomes in the animal shelters, but also save taxpayer dollars. We appreciate the support of The Joanie Bernard Foundation and the assistance from Target Zero in bringing this project to fruition,” said Meghan Sandfoss, Associate Director, NKADD.
I need to have some cats fixed were strays that ended up at our home and was pregenant