MOULTRIE, Ga. — A representative of a Thomasville veterinary clinic approached Moultrie City Council and Colquitt County Board of Commissioners at their respective meetings Tuesday with a proposal to reduce the number of feral cats in the area.

Carol Jones, a representative from South Georgia Low-Cost Spay and Neuter Clinic, described the Trap, Neuter and Return Program, which the clinic has been implementing since it opened in 2015. Jones made her presentations to the council and commission to spread awareness of the program in Moultrie.

As the name implies, the Trap, Neuter and Return Program involves trapping feral cats, “fixing” them so they can’t reproduce and releasing them back out into the community. The program prevents the stray cat population from getting bigger, and it minimizes the spread of potential diseases, including rabies.

The Spay and Neuter Clinic will provide the neutering service for $35 per animal, which covers surgery, rabies vaccination, ear tipping and pain medication. The animal will stay at the clinic 24 to 48 hours before being released.

Jones spoke about the benefits of fixing cats and the importance of reestablishing a working relationship with citizens and animal clinics in the Moultrie area.

“I’ve had calls from concerned citizens that would like us to do something about it,” she told Moultrie city councilmen. “One of my goals is to bring this to you and hopefully we can organize citizens to help us with this.

“Trapping these cats, fixing them and returning [them so] they can live out their lives as better citizens of the community as they will no longer have the annoying habits that they displayed before and it becomes a lot easier for people in the neighborhoods,” she said. “We just need to organize, educate and communicate to get things moving.

“At the clinic we have the capacity to do 40 to 50 animals a day and we provide transportation,” she said. “I’ve had several people contact me that they are frustrated that they can’t find other people to help. I’m hoping in some way we can reach the community and put volunteers together.”

The Moultrie-Colquitt County Humane Society worked closely with the clinic for a time, but more recently has turned to local veterinarians for the service, according to the interim president of the society’s board of directors, Alicia Land.

“We still use the South Georgia Low-Cost Spay and Neuter Clinic periodically but now we are trying to shop local,” said Land. “Our veterinaries are more than capable of doing the job but we still have a working relationship with [the clinic].”

Moultrie’s animal shelter can house more than 125 animals but they are almost always at capacity, Land said. Most of the time people turn in animals that are on the street, she said; it’s rare that they bring in an animal to be treated and fixed.

For more information, call the Georgia Low-Cost Spay and Neuter Clinic at (229) 236-7297 or the Moultrie Humane Society at (229) 985-6583.