Cats’ naps help cause

Tiffany Brown, Las Vegas Sun

Sunday, July 29, 2007 | 7:02 a.m.

They are not dead. These cats are under anesthesia, some of the 225 feral felines that were trapped and neutered by volunteers last Sunday at Sunrise Veterinary Clinic on Eastern Avenue.

"Like all communities , Las Vegas has a very large population of feral and stray cats, and a lot of animals that have to be euthanized," said Lynn Cleary, president of Spay Our Strays. "I think that our goal is to get as many people involved as we can. It's a very solvable problem , but the community and individuals have to be willing to address it, because ultimately if we don't, the only avenue for these animals is death."

These are the uncounted wild cats you see darting around the neighborhood and in the valley's streets and alleys.

The Las Vegas Humane Society reported that more than 16,000 cats were euthanized in Clark County in 2005 - the last year of complete statistics. So the communal effort by Spay Our Strays, Heaven Can Wait and the Humane Society to trap, spay/neuter and release ferals each month is an attempt to help prevent more cats from being born.

That's what 20 to 30 volunteers do on the third Sunday of each month. The spay/neuter clinic operates on 150 to 250 cats, which are baited and trapped Saturday night before the clinic and then transported to Sunrise Veterinary Clinic in the morning.

The cats are checked in, anesthetized, spayed or neutered and groomed by volunteers before being returned to their cages as the anesthesia wears off, when once again they will fear and loathe human contact.

"If everybody did a little bit there wouldn't be the problem with so many animals having to be euthanized," Cleary said. "If you spay and neuter them, that's basically the solution to the problem. And by doing it you feel like you're contributing, by saving lives."

To volunteer with the clinic, or Spay Our Strays, call 363-8616 or go to www.spayourstrays.20m.com . The next clinic will be held Aug. 19.

tiffany.brown@lasvegassun.com