A Co Cavan woman has highlighted the need for local authorities to "do more" when it comes to controlling the rise in stray cats across local communities.
Tina Boyle from Cavan SPCA says the feral cat crisis is something that as a society we cannot change or get control of.
Tina says the rise in feral cats is down to a number of factors, particularly when it comes to owners relocating and leaving their cat or kitten behind or passing it on to someone else.
For Tina, the main concern is that most of these cats can have three litters in one year with five or six kittens at a time.
While Cavan SPCA along with other animal shelters run a number of neutering clinics throughout the year, free of charge in most cases, it is still difficult to curtail the current crisis.
Speaking to Northern Sound, Tina says 95 per cent of people doing these jobs from rescue shelters are doing it on a voluntary basis as well as working their normal jobs which makes it very difficult:
"I definitely think local authorities could be more helpful in in the funding and the respect to the people in the rescues that are doing this job. 95% of the people doing these jobs from
rescues including Cavan SPCA are voluntary, people that have to work themselves and then go out in the evenings and catch sick cats, catch cats, bring them to vet, asking vets if you land in
tomorrow morning at nine o'clock with something in a trap, can you hold on to it and get it done. There's a massive amount of work involved for people that are voluntary. "
