BUNNELL, Fla. (December 18, 2022) During the Christmas holiday season decorative nutcrackers of all kinds are on display, but at Flagler Cats nutcracker has a whole different meaning.
Seeking to reduce the overpopulation of cats that has area shelters bursting at the seams and volunteers caring for feral colonies across the county, Flagler Cats has been offering low cost spay and neuter services for more than a decade.
On Saturday those services were free for male domestic cats and plenty of cat owners took advantage of the opportunity.
“We have close to 100 cats and we were very lucky because we had sponsors that donated the money for the event,” said Mari Molina, founder and executive director of Flagler Cats.
“The point of the event is to control the overpopulation. All these males will stop reproducing, which is what we want to do, to control the overpopulation. As we know, Flagler is heavily populated,” she said.
Last year to have a cat participate in the Nutcracker was $10.
“We’ve done the nutcracker numerous years, depending on how the funds are, but this year we were very fortunate. The people who didn’t take advantage of it, it’s a shame because nowhere else would you get a cat neutered, rabies vaccine for free.”
The winter event is geared to domestic cats, while the clinic’s spring event focuses on feral or cats in the wild.
“Domestic cats, people have them in their house, some people let them out. The minute they’re out, there’s always a female available, whether it’s feral or not, and they just continue. Hopefully the people who did come, this was for people who really needed the services, it’s low cost, as you know, we’re a low cost spay and neuter clinic so our services are to help those people that need the services,” said Molina.
Ready to head off the next round of kittens in early 2023, Flagler Cats is looking for sponsors to help offset the costs for the 2023 Spring Fling.
“We’re hoping to do the Spring Fling, and that is for feral cats,” said Molina.
Sponsorships are available by calling Mari Molina at 386-503-4250.
