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Feral cat population probably not as large as reported

Grand Traverse County is leaning on the Sherrif's Department and the Health Department to pick up the slack from the un-funded animal control department
Gracey
/
Morgue File
Feral cats are a problem in the Detroit area, but there might not be as many as 657,000

A Detroit newspaper reported there were 657,000 feral cats in the Detroit area. But that number might not be correct.

Kevin Hatman is with the Michigan Humane Society. He says he’s not sure how accurate that number is. But he says there is a large population of wild cats in the Detroit area:

“A lot of animals end up being abandoned, especially with the number of foreclosures we’ve had recently. You know, animals can get left behind. They can eventually try to find their own food and become less and less domesticated.”

Hatman says a no-kill strategy will reduce the number of wild cats more effectively than euthanizing.

You know you, remove one feral cat colony that way, and another one can just move in and it’s likely this feral cat colony could be even larger, and reproduce in even greater numbers.

The Michigan Humane Society began a Trap-Neuter-Release program in May.

-Bridget Bodnar, Michigan Radio News

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