Garden Grove Approves $70,000 Cat Trapping Program Renewal

A feral cat sits in a cat trap in Garden Grove, Calif., on Feb. 19, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Garden Grove city council approved a $70,000 contract Feb. 24 that will allow residents to trap feral cats, have them spay or neutered, and return them to the place of capture.

Its agreement with the Stray Cat Alliance’s Return to Field (RTF) program, began in 2018 to address the city’s stray cat problem. It seeks to limit the cats’ reproductive cycles.

As well as being fixed, captured cats are given a rabies vaccination and medical exam to ensure they are healthy before being returned to the wild.

The funds were approved as Garden Grove reported an increase in the number of free-roaming felines wandering the city.

From July to December 2020, the city said 226 cats went through the RTF program, compared to just 79 during the same time frame a year prior.

In 2020, the city council reduced the budget for the RTF program to $49,000 due to the unknown financial impact of COVID-19. Its RTF budget has already been fully exhausted due to the increased activity last year compared to prior years.

The funding for the program is set to begin July 1 and will last for one year. The item received a unanimous vote in a single motion containing other consent items.