Feral Cats Fixed In Vegas

A huge celebration for our city's cat-loving community took place Sunday.

A cute cat – for a major milestone.

'It's a very cute, little Calico cat,' said Keith Williams, President and Director of the Community Cat Coalition of Clark County, or C5.

C5 is celebrating their 35,000th altered feline. Those are all feral cats that have been spayed, neutered and vaccinated.

'It's an amazing feeling,' Williams said. 'We started out in 2009, a small handful of people sitting around our living room saying wouldn't it be great if we could really make a difference here.'

Almost a decade later, the group of around 50 volunteers now helps thousands of cats across the Las Vegas Valley. Their passion is 'paws'-itively palpable.

'There ended up being five kittens, stray kittens in my yard, and I looked up these guys and started helping them and I've been doing it ever since,' said C5 volunteer Shawn Siddons.

First, volunteers trap feral cats out in the community. Last week, 8 News Now got a closer look at how that works. The four-legged fur balls are then brought to the Heaven Can Wait Animal Society, where they get all the necessary treatment, and go into surgery if necessary. Experts say there are approximately 200,000 feral cats in the Las Vegas area.

'C5 has done an unbelievable job,' said Harold Vosko, President of Heaven Can Wait Animal Society. 'I believe that they're the best asset for cats in this town. Why is that? Because they are getting cats that would otherwise reproduce.'

All the work done by C5 and Heaven Can Wait to help the furry felines in our community is actually part of a larger mission.

'By getting out in the neighborhoods, trapping the cats where they live, putting them back where they live to continue to be cared for, the number of cats being euthanized in our shelter has dropped,' Williams said. 'The ultimate, long-term goal is for their to be no need for cats to be killed in the shelter.'

A 'purr'-fect promise -- fulfilled one feline at a time.

Story posted from Las Vegas Now. Wriiten by Orko Manna