17 feral felines fixed across Richmond County

ROCKINGHAM — While one local group of animal lovers is protesting for better operations at the Richmond County Animal Shelter, another is working to prevent animals from going there.

This week, Richmond County Operation Fix was able to trap 17 feral cats from various locations across the county, according to a post on its Facebook page.

The trapping was done Tuesday night and the surgeries were performed on Wednesday.

The post reads that seven females and 10 males will no longer be breeding.

According to the Feral Cat Project, a study found that female cats birthed an average of 1.4 litters of three kittens per year.

Using those statistics, Operation Fix’s effort prevented the birth of roughly 30 feral kittens.

According to the post, all cats “received flea and tick treatment, got fixed, and vaccinated.”

The mission was a combined effort between Operation Fix, Sandhills Spay and Neuter Veterinary Clinic, The Hive Recreation Center, and the cities of Rockingham and Hamlet.

“We are looking forward to doing this in our community more frequently and we look forward to preventing more unwanted animals,” the post concludes.

The cost — including traps, other supplies and surgeries — was $1676.60, according to the post. Future efforts, the group says, will be less expensive since they won’t have to purchase traps.

Operation Fix raised $900 earlier this month through its second annual Paddle for Paws at Hamlet City Lake.

Operation Fix also picked up a new sponsor for its “Neuter Scooter” — a van gifted to the organization last year by Griffin Dodge used to transport pets to spay and neuter clinics.

The foray into fixing ferals is the latest effort of the group.

Originally Richmond County Animal Advocates, Operation Fix — founded by Allison Story — changed its name and mission several years ago to focus on helping owners get their animals spayed or neutered.

The group helped fix 206 pets in the first five months of this year, according to Story.

Operation Fix recently received $500 from the Rockingham Rotary Club, according to Story, and the county has allocated $5,000 for the group from the upcoming fiscal year budget.

On June 27, Tropical Smoothie will be donating a portion of its sales from 5-8 p.m. to Operation Fix. Customers must present the QR code for the organization to receive money from that sale.

For more information on making donations or participating in the spay and neuter program, contact Operation Fix through Facebook.