ANALYSIS:
To date, PetSmart Charities, Inc. has awarded the City three (3) grants to fund spay/neuter programs to assist in reducing the number of community cats throughout the City. Following the funding, the City entered into a contract agreement with The Cat Network, Inc. to facilitate the program, where at least once a month, a mobile unit (known as the Meow Mobile), would perform sterilization surgeries by licensed veterinarians.
Community cats are retrieved from key locations by The Trap, Neuter and Return Program (TNR) staffers, consisting of volunteer trappers who dedicate their time for the cause. The cats are then transported to the Log Cabin Nursery located on Collins Avenue, where sterilization surgeries are performed. Surgeries are performed on Saturday mornings each month. Once the surgery is performed, the cats are housed overnight during the recovery phase. On Sunday morning, volunteers along with City staffers release the cats back to their originating locations
There have been discussions about repurposing the Log Cabin Nursery which would require relocating these activities to a new site for the purpose of surgeries. There is a City-owned building, located at the North West corner of Collins Avenue and 83rd Street (8300-8310 Collins Avenue), where there is an existing smaller office trailer, which could be used for this purpose.
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