As the vice president of a new Fredericksburg-area nonprofit organization dedicated to high-volume spay/neuter of feral cats, I was thrilled to see a photo of a feral cat and to read the accompanying story ["Feral cats find new friends," Nov. 8].
What a wonderful way to raise public awareness of this problem, and to promote trap-neuter-return as the kind and effective solution.
It's inspiring to read about a neighborhood becoming proactive and performing trap-neuter-return themselves. We need more people like Rhoda Nelson and her neighbors, who, rather than taking on the attitude of "not my cats, not my problem," decided to become a part of the solution.
How responsible of them to recognize that feeding hungry cats is not enough. Sterilization of feral cats must be a part of any long-term management plan.
Hopefully members of our community will choose to follow Nelson's example in their own neighborhoods or volunteer for local groups like ours.
Working together, we can make a difference for Fredericksburg's stray and feral cats.
Our organization, Shadow Cat Advocates Inc., has facilitated the sterilization of more than 300 cats this year alone. We trap up to 50 feral cats per month and have them sterilized at clinics in Fredericksburg and Richmond.
Shadow Cat Advocates will lend traps to the public for the purpose of trapping feral cats for sterilization and then release back to their homes.
Ginny Foreman
Stafford