By Ashley M. Casey

Associate Editor

Stray cats, feral cats, community cats: No matter what you call them, these free-range felines can be a nuisance in many neighborhoods.

The village of North Syracuse is considering a partnership with Liverpool-based cat rescue Kitty Corner of CNY to manage the community cat population. At the Nov. 24 meeting of the North Syracuse Village Board of Trustees, Codes Enforcement Officer Brian Johnstone said the village of East Syracuse has a trap/neuter/release (TNR) agreement with Kitty Corner.

“We’ve been taking a lot of calls about stray cats. We do have a couple of properties that are feeding stray cats. The problem’s only going to get worse,” Johnstone said. “After talking with Linda [Young] at the Kitty Corner, cats can have litters twice a year. So if there’s 10 cats now, by the end of the year, there are going to be 30 cats or 40 cats, depending on how big the litters are.”

Kitty Corner traps feral and stray cats humanely and bring them to a vet to be spayed or neutered. Then, the cats are released back where they are found.

Johnstone said this partnership could be an alternative to passing a local law governing the treatment and feeding of stray cats.

Trustee Fred Wilmer had a few questions about the program.

“How will we know if it’s a feral cat or if somebody owns the cat?” he asked. “What if they pick up a cat and it’s already neutered or spayed?”

Mayor Gary Butterfield said most feral cats are skittish around people.

“I have feral cats hanging around my house and as soon as they see you, they’ll run,” he said.

Johnstone explained that TNR programs clip the corner of a feral cat’s ear when it is spayed or neutered.

“They actually snip one of the ears so it’s no longer pointed,” Johnstone said. “It’ll have a flat spot on its ear so they’ll know if its already been trapped before.”

The village may host Kitty Corner Director Linda Young at a future meeting to discuss the program in detail.

Visit kittycorner.org to learn more about Kitty Corner’s mission, volunteer, donate or adopt a cat.

For more information about community cats and the TNR method, visit aspcapro.org/feral/.

Also on the agenda

• COVID-19 hot spots: With much of Onondaga County designated in the “yellow zone” and the city of Syracuse moving to the “orange zone” designation identifying the severity of coronavirus cases, the village of North Syracuse has fielded calls from residents wondering whether they fall into one of the micro-clusters. Residents can search their addresses at covidhotspotlookup.health.ny.gov to see if their neighborhood is in a hot spot.

The village provided the North Syracuse Community Center to Onondaga County for testing asymptomatic people Nov. 25. Mayor Butterfield said he asked the county about the possibility of having village employees tested in exchange for the use of the community center.

• Parks and rec: The village officially welcomed Tony Burkinshaw, its new director of parks and recreation, on Nov. 30. Burkinshaw previously worked for the town of Lysander. North Syracuse Parks and Recreation has a new Facebook page. Follow it at facebook.com/NSYRPNR/.