Chester County SPCA Launches Community Cat Program

The Chester County SPCA has announced the launch of its Community Cat program, an effort to control the stray cat populations in Chester and Delaware counties.

According to the website, the Community Cat Program was recently implemented to make sure residents of both Chester and Delaware Counties have access to free- or low-cost spay and neuter surgeries and vaccination services for cats.

“Our aim is to increase the health and wellness of these animals while also working to proactively reduce the number of animals being born without homes in our community,” a statement from the CCSPCA says.

The campaign will use Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return (TNVR) efforts through the program, a process that the CCSPCA says is the “most humane, most efficient, and least costly method of stabilizing community cat populations.”

Funding for the Community Cat program comes primarily from a $300,000 grant awarded by PetSmart Charities earlier this month. The $305,320 grant will be used for some 4,700 “free-roaming” cats in the two counties over a 26-month period, the CCSPCA said. Cats are humanely trapped, taken to the CCSPCA’s Animal Health Center to be spayed or neutered and vaccinated, and then returned to the location they were found.

Surgeries are performed Tuesday through Friday. Drop offs are accepted between 8:30 an 9 a.m., with pick ups between 4 and 5 p.m. the same day. Cats may come in carriers or humane live release traps.

Appointments can be made by calling (610) 692-6113.