Fredericton's feral cat population may hit 400K by 2020

Cat Rescue Maritimes is estimating the number of feral cats in Fredericton could climb to more than 400,000 by 2020.

The volunteer organization traps feral cats and then spays or neuters them before turning them loose in an effort to control the population.

The group has operated on 3,000 cats in the city since 2007. But its future is now in question as it may lose its operating space.

Even with a dedicated operating space, Sue Knight, the chairperson of the group's Fredericton chapter, said Cat Rescue Maritimes (Carma) has just finished fixing 2012's backlog of cats, which was roughly 600 cats.

"We've just started tackling the 2013 [cats], of which unfortunately we've got a really huge number," she said.

The charity does not accept cats that are owned and will only take animals from feral colonies.

The feral cat situation could continue to get worse in Fredericton. Carma's situation is made even more difficult as it has lost several volunteers.

Knight said the loss of the operating space will be difficult for the organization.

"So we've just got to go back to basics to figure out how we can bring in the number of cats for the clinics and finding people with large garages so that we can keep them there for the two days and the two days after," she said.

Carma won't disclose its current location so people don't drop off their cats and leave them there.

The group also needs to hang onto its volunteers.

Deanne Landry has been helping Carma for a year. This week she spent time in Minto, rescuing kittens from under a garage.

"I work a regular job 37.5 hours per week and I'm sure that I put that or more in the run of the week," she said.