This colony&squo;s caretaker had taken it upon herself to have some of the cats sterilized, years ago, but as more cats were abandoned over time, she became overwhelmed.

The colony can no longer be sustained.

This week, Polk County Animal Control started trapping these cats, as complaints from neighbors increased. The Polk County Sheriff&squo;s office and Animal Control Officer Mike Herman have agreed to work with&bsp; Foothills Humane Society in an effort to allow Po&squo;Kitties to try to save the cats that are healthy, and relocate them to barns or shelters in the area through their Trap-Neuter-Return Program. &bsp;

Cats who cannot be re-homed will be euthanized because there is no other option. Some of the cats are not healthy, and the kindest alternative will be to euthanize them, but the majority of these cats appear to be in good health and &dquo;of good weight,&dquo; according to Dr. Donna Raines of Landrum Veterinary Hospital.&bsp; These healthy cats can be saved if the community will help find them new homes.

Foothills Humane Society is working to ensure that healthy cats from the colony will be relocated to barns of willing caretakers. Po&squo;Kitties is compiling a list of people willing to provide food, water, and shelter to a couple of feral cats in order to save their lives. These cats will be sterilized, given a rabies shot, eartipped, and released after spending about three weeks confined on the premises of their new homes, which helps to ensure that they will stay put. This will give these cats a chance at a new life, and allow them to live out their lives in peace and freedom instead of being destroyed.

Saving the lives of 50 cats will cost approximately $3,500.&bsp; This covers the health check, spay/neuter surgery, eartip, and rabies vaccination.

Po&39;Kitties is asking for help from the community in order to try to save these cats. If you have some sort of shelter, such as a barn or a shed, and you are willing to feed these cats daily, please contact Foothills Humane Society at 864-4444. If you cannot help with a home, a donation of any size would be most appreciated. Checks made payable to Foothills Humane Society (please write &dquo;for Po&squo;Kitties&dquo; on the check) can be mailed to P.O. Box 39, Tryon, N.C. 28782.

And if you are feeding a feral colony and any of the cats are not sterilized, please contact Po&squo;Kitties, who will work with you to get them sterilized before they become unmanageable. A&bsp; well-managed colony has few problems and benefits the humans as well as the cats.

‐ article submitted