Carbon County Friends of Animals is reminding residents that it cannot accept feral cats at the shelter.

Kimmy Mulik, a board member for the shelter, said that the nonprofit organization has recently been overwhelmed with calls regarding feral cats and properties where people are feeding the colonies."The reason we have this problem is due to human error," she said. "Some pet owners have been neglectful in not having their animal spayed or neutered, and this has caused an overpopulation of cats."Carbon County is not the only county having this problem," Mulik added. "It is everywhere."Susie Yaich, co-founder of CCFOA, explained that people also need to realize that if they are feeding ferals on their property, they are accepting responsibility for those cats.The catsYaich and Mulik said that there are a number of reasons CCFOA cannot accept these animals at the shelter or have Donna Crum, cruelty officer, go out to calls for ferals.These cats are not adoptable and are dangerous to handle because they are more prone to bite or attack humans.They also have a higher chance of carrying rabies or other communicable diseases that can be harmful to both the cats already at the shelter and the CCFOA staff."We can't afford to vaccinate the staff for rabies because the human rabies vaccine starts at $1,500 and up per person," Yaich said. "It's very expensive."We also do not want our healthy, adoptable cats to be exposed to diseases."Each cat that comes into the shelter also costs CCFOA $100 or more to make sure they are spayed or neutered, vaccinated and have a clean bill of health.The publicMulik said that people don't understand these reasons and believe the shelter has a responsibility to accept ferals, which legally, they do not."When people call, they get angry when we tell them we cannot assist them," she said. "They truly feel it is our job to take care of this problem, and that could not be further from the truth. There are people who have cat colonies and they provide adequate shelter, food and medical care to the feline. These colonies run efficiently, and most cats stay on the same property for their entire life. These are safe, healthy and effective outlets for ferals."The problem is, people who feed the animals and do not spay and neuter to control the population.If there is an intentional neglect issue going on, then Crum could look into it, but Mulik said, most cases are not neglect cases."My role as humane officer is not to remove feral cats that are fed, watered and sheltered," Crum said. "I cannot take every cat from every call. People need to realize that feral cats belong in their colony habitat, and sometimes that's the safest place for them to remain, especially if they are unadoptable."Mulik said the shelter wishes it could do more, but financially and for safety reasons it just can't help with this problem."If we had a million dollars or a money tree in our backyard, we would certainly help any animal in need," she said, "but unfortunately, that is not the case. We are lucky we have enough funds to keep our current building operating.""Our hands are tied," Yaich added. "What is most important here is the safety of our employees."How to helpThere are a number of low-cost spay and neuter locations where people can take feral cats to help control the population.Carbon County Friends of Animals recommends:• Eastern PA Animal Alliance: 570-994-5846• Starting Over Animal Rescue: 570-386-9241• No Nonsense Neutering: 866-820-2510