A cat-astrophe may be on the horizon for feral animals in Provo after an animal welfare organization announced it was rescinding its offer of a cat neutering program due to the city allegedly causing delays.
Best Friends Animal Society says it had offered Provo support, valued up to $1 million over three years, to implement and run a citywide cat spay and neuter pilot program that would aim to “eliminate the need to even consider killing cats entering the shelter.”
“We were hopeful that Provo city would finally be the leader to at least give this lifesaving program a shot. But despite good faith efforts and hearing positive feedback from the mayor and City Council, our offer has been met with constant delays and roadblocks,” said Holly Sizemore, chief mission officer at Best Friends Animal Society.
Best Friends said it began talking with city leaders in February 2024 about ways to help the feral cat population and “patiently” waited for the program to move forward. However, there were “delays and lack of communication” from the city, and in November, the Provo police expressed opposition to the program while the City Council voted in favor of pursuing it, the company said.
“By ignoring the offer, the police department and mayor’s office actively choose not to improve the care their community’s cats receive,” the society’s statement Thursday continued. “The offer would have been at no cost to the city or the animal shelter.”
The organization said it will redirect the funding to support partners and shelters who demonstrate “a greater sense of urgency and commitment to save at-risk pets in shelters.”
A statement from Provo said the city had been considering Best Friends’ proposal for “some time” to implement a trap-neuter-release program to manage the feral cat population.
“We appreciate their interest in working in our community, their dedication to animal welfare, and their patience as we carefully evaluated this issue from multiple perspectives,” the city said.
Trap-neuter-release programs have strong advocates for the process, but some studies have found them ineffective and inhumane in certain environments like Provo, where weather presents challenges, the city’s statement said. City leaders listened to citizens and consulted with animal experts on the impact the program would have on residents, public health and local wildlife, the statement said.
“While we were still in the process of evaluating these factors, Best Friends informed us they were withdrawing their funding offer for the program. While our findings thus far had indicated a (trap-neuter-release) program was not right for Provo, we sincerely appreciate Best Friends’ willingness to collaborate and understand their decision to focus their resources elsewhere,” the city statement said.
Utah County’s shelter system is at a “critical” point for cats and dogs, with the highest kill rate in the state, Best Friends said. The two shelters, North Utah Valley Animal Shelter and South Utah Valley Animal Shelter are responsible for 96% of all cats killed in Utah, the organization said.
“This is largely due to the trapping, impounding and killing of otherwise healthy outdoor cats and a long-standing refusal to adopt contemporary cat programs that most other Utah shelters adopted,” Best Friends Animal Society said.
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