Roundup to capture Charlotte cats

CATS -- Cats -- a whole lot of them -- are roaming the campus of UNC-Charlotte.

Officials say the feral cats may carry disease and the cat population will grow if they don't step in.

The university is working with Friends of Feral Felines. The nonprofit group uses volunteers to humanely capture, treat and reduce feral cat colonies in Charlotte.

The group will take the cats to local veterinarians, who will check them for feline leukemia and feline AIDS.

If they are healthy, the cats will be sterilized, vaccinated against rabies and put up for adoption.

But some of them -- the healthy ones that don't like people -- will be allowed to return to campus.

Diseased cats will be euthanized, said Marlene Hall, director of campus police and public safety.

Nobody knows how many cats roam the campus, but they are a noticeable presence. A similar roundup between 2001 and 2003 nabbed about 100 cats, according to Ann Gross of the feline group. Some of those were returned to campus and may still be roaming, but officials expect that they'll see many new felines.

Junior Ian Moyer said he's seen more than a dozen cats near dorms on Mary Alexander Road and others near the Crossroads cafeteria, where he said students feed them. "They're all over campus," Moyer said.

UNC-Charlotte will reimburse Friends of Feral Felines up to $80 per cat for treatment, Hall said. Cats that have been captured and treated in the past have had their ears clipped. If any of those cats are recaptured, they will get a rabies booster, and the university will pay up to $12 per cat for the boosters.

Hall's staff will verify each capture, by accompanying the Friends of Feral Felines volunteers checking the traps.