Free Cat Clinic – Hundreds ‘Fixed’

The Big Island of Hawai‘i has a huge feral cat problem and it will only get worse if nothing is done about it.

Hundreds of pets and “community cats” have been spayed and/or neutered during the first few days of the “Big Island Fix” that began on Wednesday, March 25, 2018, at a temporary clinic set-up by an organization from the mainland called Animal Balance.

Big Island Now was on hand to see just how things operated.

Animal Balance likes to use the term “community cats” when discussing cats that are not somebody’s personal pet, or more commonly known here locally as feral cats.

Elsa Kohlbus, Communications Coordinator for Animal Balance said that residents have been dropping off cats between 8 and 9 a.m. each of the clinic days and that the cats can be picked up at the end of the day between 4 and 5 p.m.

Sunday, March 25, 2018, will be the last day of the free spay and neuter clinic that the County of Hawai‘i helped sponsor along with Alley Cat Allies.

If residents want to drop off their cats this Sunday, they will need to be in a secured container.  There is no limit of the amount of cats that can be spayed or neutered and there is no fee, however, there can only be one cat in each cage that is brought in.

Volunteer Carey Yost and Mr. Balls.

Kohlbus stated that they collected enough supplies for 700 cats and that this is the third time that Animal Balance has provided this service to Hilo residents.  In July of 2017, there were 683 total cats that were spayed and neutered.

Animal Balance provides services in Hawai‘i (Hilo, Maui, Moloka‘i and Kaua‘i) as well as the Galapagos Islands, The Dominican Republic, American Samoa, Aruba, Cuba, The Bahamas, Capo Verde and Saipan.

Animal Balance was formed in 2004 to create sustainable, humane animal population strategies for island environments and communities. The work to end the practice of killing of one species to protect another.

The temporary clinic is located at 1177 Kīlauea Ave. in Hilo, located behind WikiFresh.

For more information about Animal Balance, contact Kohlbus via ekohlbus@animalbalance.org or call (508) 245-1238.