LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Feeding a stray cat may seem like the right thing to do, but local rescuers say if those cats aren't also being trapped and spayed or neutered, it could be making Las Vegas' stray cat problem even worse.
Rachel Trotter-McConville and Shannon McConville recently started Wander No Longer Cat Rescue, a local nonprofit dedicated to trapping, feeding and managing feral cat colonies across the valley.
WATCH | Southwest Las Vegas reporter Shakeria Hawkins talked with the nonprofit about steps to help manage the stray cat population:
"What our rescue and what other rescues need is for you to report the cats you're feeding," Shannon McConville said.
The goal of the rescue isn't just to feed feral cats — it's to help slow the population. The McConvilles estimate there are about 200,000 feral cats across the Las Vegas Valley and say the biggest challenge is that more people are feeding cats than reporting them.
"This has become a community issue. It's gotten out of control," Shannon McConville said.
The McConvilles say they've also received criticism for feeding feral cats, but explain there is more to the process. When they feed feral cats, they say they aren't encouraging population growth — they're managing it through trap-neuter-return.
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"You're helping the cats, but you're doing nothing to manage the future of the cats," Shannon McConville said.
"We trap every night," Rachel Trotter-McConville said.
The rescue says feeding alone actually makes trapping harder. When cats always have a food source, they're less likely to enter the humane traps needed to get them spayed or neutered.
"We were called out to a trailer park ... there were about a hundred cats," Shannon McConville said. "We set the traps down, but a lot of the residents didn't stop feeding. If the cats aren't hungry, they're not going into the trap."
That's why the rescue says Las Vegas doesn't just need more donations — it needs more people willing to help trap. Right now, they say there are far more people feeding colonies than helping control them.
"There's 70% feeders to 30% of people actually doing something," Shannon McConville said.
Local rescuers say if you want to help community cats, don't just feed them. Report them to a local trap-neuter-return group or rescue so they can be spayed, neutered and cared for the right way.
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