Good-hearted people throughout Haywood County have for years taken in, fed and appreciated these beautiful, feral or free-roaming “community cats.”  Who can blame them? But all too soon their numbers multiply and without assistance, caring for them can become overwhelming.

Help is available. Haywood Spay/Neuter (formerly known as HAWA) offers an effective, long-term solution through a project that allows caregivers an alternative to calling Animal Services to remove and euthanize the cats.

According to North Carolina state government statistics, more than 80 percent of all cats entering government funded pounds and animal shelters in 2010 were killed.   It has been proven that this approach does not solve the overall problem.  A cat can have 12 to 18 offspring in a year; and those kittens ...