MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho — The idea of trapping, neutering and returning stray cats has Mountain Home neighbors and city council members divided on whether it's the right solution for their community.
However, about 45 minutes away in Boise, local animal groups regularly trap cats, have them spayed or neutered, vaccinated and ear-tipped before returning them outdoors. They've been using this approach since 2021.
Under Mountain Home's current animal control ordinance, it's considered animal abandonment anytime a person deserts an animal "without making reasonable arrangements for its proper care."
Kristine Schellhaas with the Idaho Humane Society in Boise said the organization views the term abandonment differently.
"Abandonment would be putting an animal back without any medical care that is not thriving. Like that is what we see as abandonment," Schellhaas said.
Idaho Humane Society has helped curb the feral cat population, fixing around 1,000 cats in Ada County and nearby neighborhoods.
"Cats are bearing animals all the time. They're very much a high producer of babies. So if you're not spaying and neutering, you're actually creating a larger problem," Schellhaas said.
Schellhaas said returning cats to their colony is a crucial component of the program's success.
"What typically happens is if you just remove a bunch of cats, other cats move in. So if you have cats already living in the community they're going to live a really good life," Schellhaas said.
WATCH: Boise’s Solution to Stray Cats through Trap, Neuter, Return
But not everyone in Elmore County is convinced the program works effectively.
"The question is, is it really working? Everybody has got their own statistics. You'll have one group that will say that it works and another group that will have different statistics that say," said Debborah Pfeifer, board member of Elmore County SNIFF.
If the Mountain Home proposal passes, it would look similar to Boise's program, requiring groups to get permits, work through animal control and ensure cats are examined by a veterinarian before sterilization. A fee of about $2 per cat would also apply.
This process has raised concerns among some nonprofit leaders, including Lost Paws.
"We did question why we would pay them at the last city council meeting and they said it's not the city council, we'd be paying animal control for the work that they would be doing. But we're doing the work," said Beverly King, president of Lost Paws.
Meanwhile, the Idaho Humane Society says it supports making trap-neuter-return an easier process for nonprofits in Mountain Home.
"We did write a letter of support for nonprofits to do this work in Mountain Home. We feel it's very valuable in life saving.” Schellhaas said. “Mountain Home Leadership has actually reached out to us and so we are in the process of providing our input.”
The Mountain Home City Council hopes to reach a final decision within two months.
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