Feral and abandoned cats are living in virtually every community in Carbon County.

Most people are only reminded of that when the problem makes the headlines, like when officials in Weatherly received a report of multiple dead cats showing up in the borough.But for neighbors who live in those communities, it's an every day issue.Animal control officer Donna Crum understands that, and believes that there is a solution that can reduce the population, in a humane way."There's a huge problem with feral cats in Carbon County, it's not just Jim Thorpe and Lehighton," she said.Crum is one of the only animal control officers in Carbon County with the ability to arrest someone for cruelty violations.But she has also had a personal passion about managing feral cat colonies for more than 20 years.On Wednesday, she shared her experience at a pet-related seminar held by the Beltzville Lions Club.Crum said that she knows of dozens, if not hundreds of properties in Carbon County that are overrun with at least 20 animals.In many cases, someone is feeding the cats, but not taking additional steps to manage the population."It's not the cats creating the problem, it's the humans who are feeding them and not doing anything else - that's the problem."The area's shelters are overrun with animals as is.The Carbon County Friends of Animals is the area's cat shelter, but they are filled to capacity, Crum said.On top of that, they are prohibited from taking feral cats because they are unable to be socialized.Unfortunately, what ends up happening is that neighbors try to take the situation into their own hands.It's not known exactly how the cats in Weatherly died, but Crum believes that animals are killed on a regular basis around the county."Somebody found them in Weatherly, and thank God it was finally in the news, because it happens everywhere," she said.Crum advocates the trap-neuter-release method - which is predicated on the thought that if a colony of animals can't reproduce, it won't grow, and eventually will die out.During the summer months, Crum sets traps near a colony, then takes the trapped animals to a low-cost spay and neuter clinic like Starting Over Animal Rescue, based in Schnecksville.The animals are vaccinated, fixed, and returned to the wild with a small notch in their ear to identify them if they're trapped again.Trapping and neutering is regarded as a more humane approach than euthanizing the animals."If you're an animal activist, euthanasia isn't an option. It's an option, but it's not one we would like to utilize."Crum says that she has created several colonies around the county where the animals don't reproduce, and eventually will die off.She says the cats are in a place where they don't drastically affect human or animal populations."In each community, we're asking someone to take charge, step forward and make a difference," she said.