Lee County Domestic Animal Services will hold a task force meeting for residents interested in participating in a Trap-Neuter-Return, or TNR, program for feral and community cats

The meeting will be held Saturday, April 21, at 1:30 p.m. at the agency’s Lost and Found Pet Center Conference Room, at 5600 Banner Drive, Fort Myers.

The TNR program is aimed at reducing the number of feral cats currently estimated at 98,000 in Lee County.

The Lee County Board of County Commissioners approved a TNR program in 2009 to provide sterilization and vaccination of feral outdoor community cats to reduce overpopulation and euthanasia. Additional funding for the project has been provided from grants through the Florida Animal Friend License Plate program.

A task force was also formed in 2009 to handle the demand for the program, but additional volunteers are needed. Task force members donate a few hours or a few days per week.

Responsibilities include assisting residents with setting traps, transporting trapped cats for sterilization appointments, returning sterilized and vaccinated cats to their original trapping site, and providing education.

Representatives are needed for all of Lee County, but Lehigh Acres is a critical area. Funding from the Florida Animal Friend License Plate program is currently ear-marked for TNR in Lehigh Acres.

Each year in Lee County thousands of feral and community cats in good health face unnecessary euthanasia without a TNR program. The University of Florida School of Veterinary Medicine advocates that TNR is the most humane and effective solution for preventing overpopulation and reducing euthanasia.

Further studies also support that eradication as a method to reduce overpopulation has been a failure.

For information about TNR or to make a reservation for the task force meeting, contact Lee County Domestic Animal Services at (239) 533-9200 or e-mail dward@leegov.com.