BY MICHELE MILLER
What’s What New Port Richey
Published January 5, 2022 | Updated February 21, 2024
“As my father used to say, ‘It’s like shoveling steam.“
Sharon Scheiblein, co-founder of Tip My Ear TNR & Rescue
More often than not, it starts with human abandonment – a cat that’s now birthing kittens under a shed in someone’s backyard or a cul-de-sac down at the end of the street that’s become home for a colony of feral cats that’s multiplying by the day it seems.
The free-roaming felines are prone to yowling, howling, and fighting – especially at night. They breed and interbreed – with females birthing up to three litters per year. They scrounge through the trash, use well-tended garden beds as a litter box, and kill songbirds. Their lives are rough and often short. They get sick or injured in their wild, urban habitats and sadly become prey to the growing coyote population, hawks and other predators.
According to the National Feline Research Council, there is no solid data for the number of feral cats living in the United States, though best estimates suggest “that the population is probably about 32 million, roughly 76% of whom live in urban areas.”
UPDATE: 2/21/2024
According to the latest research and data, There Are 30 to 80 Million Stray, Feral, Uncared & Homeless Cats in the US according to the World Animal Foundation.
There are several good people working with grassroots organizations trying to stem the tide here in Pasco County, Florida.
Among them are Ruth Pennington and Sharon Scheiblein, the president and secretary/treasurer respectively, of a local non-profit called Tip My Ear TNR & Rescue.
TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return) or TNVR (with a vaccination component) is a widely accepted and humane way of controlling the feral cat population in neighborhoods throughout the United States. In the process, feral, stray, or “community cats” are humanely trapped, neutered, and vaccinated for rabies, ear clipped for identification purposes, then returned to their outdoor home or colony.
Pasco County Animal Services offers TNVR services as an alternative to euthanasia for handling the multitude of stray and feral cats in Pasco County through their Spay Neuter in Pasco (SNIP) Program. Residents who bring the cats pay a discounted fee of $10 for the spay/vaccination procedure performed by participating veterinarians throughout the county.
That’s where Tip My Ear comes in. They serve as a go-between of sorts for those who might be in a quandary as to how to deal with a problem in their own neighborhood.
“There are a lot of people – good-hearted people – who want to do something about the ferals in their neighborhoods but don’t know what to do or don’t have the resources,” said Ruth.
“Some people might have the resources. But they don’t have the time or can’t get to the vet at 7 o’clock in the morning to drop the cat off or pick them up later,” Sharon said.
Most people reach out through the messages on the Tip My Ear Facebook page, the phone number listed there, or through word-of-mouth referrals. Ruth or Sharon then set up a time to go out to the caller’s home and evaluate the situation. If needed, they lend out traps and offer instructions on how to use and monitor the traps for the time it takes to ensnare the cats.
They also make appointments with local veterinarians who participate in SNIP or the Humane Society Tampa Bay and provide or arrange for round-trip transportation for the cats, if needed. And they pay the fees: $10 through SNIP and $25 through Tampa Bay Humane Society.
As the community liaison for Animal Services in Pasco County, Stella Ickes works with several local organizations and community partners such as Tip My Ear TNR & Rescue and was named the Florida Animal Control Officer of the Year by the Florida Animal Control Association.
“Tip My Ear may be small but they are definitely hands-on. They really go above and beyond,” said Ms. Ickes, who communicates and meets with Ruth and Sharon regularly to assist in getting neutering, vaccination, or medical services for ferals and strays that come their way.
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Ruth and Sharon started their nonprofit in April of 2021 soon after a mutual acquaintance put them in touch when Ruth needed assistance in trapping a stray for a family that had moved out of state. She was asking for help through a community social media page in capturing an elusive cat they had been caring for.
Sharon, a retired nurse who has taken in three rescue animals – a poodle mix named Molly, and two cats, Callie and Misty – was more than happy to help. She has long had experience with TNR, starting during a lengthy volunteer stint with the Humane Society of Pasco in Spring Hill.
“It took me three days of going back every two hours to check the trap,” Ruth said, a mother of three and an avid animal lover. “Yeah, I’m a crazy cat lady.”
The good feeling that came with being able to reunite the cat with the family made Ruth want to do more.
And so they are.
Just check out the Tip My Ear Facebook page to see the numbers that unfold in “two at a time,” “eight at a time,” and “25 at a time” posts, complete with cute cat photos and some videos of the return process that typically entails an enthusiastic or occasionally timid exit from the cage.
There’s Kiki, a feral that had been living under a maintenance shed in an over 55-community. She’s recently back from her “spa day” and still living outside, but being fed and looked after by her rescuer. Another post includes photos of three of eight cats that are all back in their home environment in two mobile home parks after being neutered at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay.
With every effort there are exceptions.
In the 15 or so years Sharon has been tending to TNR in a feral colony at the end of her street, she has trapped several cats for TNR but still hasn’t been able to ensnare a trap-savvy male who seemingly hangs out around the trap in defiance.
“He’s gorgeous. All white with a fluffy tail. Beautiful and smart,” said Sharon. “It doesn’t matter what I put out – wet food, mackerel, sardines. He won’t go for it.”
And there are careless humans who add to the problem by continuing to dump unwanted cats and their litter.
“As my father used to say, ‘It’s like shoveling steam,” Sharon says, with a smile.
“But we are working at it,” said Ruth, noting the “one nip and tip at a time” philosophy and follow-up that lends to some uplifting success stories.
“The animals are healthier,” Sharon said. “They get vaccinated. The neutered males are less likely to fight and get injured. There are no more kittens and that’s good because there are just not enough homes for all the kittens.”
“A big thing is that TNR helps increase property values,” she added. “Feral cats hang around hotels and restaurants that are patronized by tourists.”
But keeping it under control costs money.
So far Sharon has provided most of the funding for services. Since setting up the non-profit some donations are starting to trickle in. Most recently the residents of a New Port Richey mobile home park passed the hat, raising $500 to help with fees for multiple cats that had been trapped in their neighborhood.
“That helped a lot,” said Sharon.
But they need more funds, more veterinarians to participate, and more buy-in from the community at large for TNR/TNVR.
“We are currently monitoring and actively trapping in three separate, large colonies in New Port Richey, Hudson and Zephyrhills,” Ruth said, adding that the partners talk daily.
“It’s phenomenal to have a partner that I communicate so well with. Teamwork in this case really makes the dream work,” she said.
One future goal is to spend some time educating others beyond their one-on-one interactions with the local residents they are helping, said Ruth, noting that offering talks at local schools, civic organizations, and local libraries are something they would like to explore.
“We’re super excited about what we’re doing,” said Sharon, who also has a mobile TNVR unit on her wishlist. “People created the problem and people are going to have to solve it, and that will come through education.”
To Help
Tip My Ear TNR & Rescue, Hudson: Donations can be made directly to Tip My Ear TNR & Rescue and to the veterinarians they use that are listed on their website. These include PAWS in Bayonet Point, Hays Town Vet in Hudson, Planned Pethood Wesley Chapel, Planned Pethood Zephyrhills, and Dade City Animal Clinic. For more information and how to donate, go to the Tip My Ear TNR & Rescue Facebook page here. Email tipmyeartnrandrescue@gmail.com or call (727) 361-3114.
Resources
Pasco County Animal Services: For contact information and general information on adoption services, and emergency services, click here. Check them out on Facebook here. For shelter statistics, click here. SNIP: An income-based low-cost spay/neuter program for Pasco County residents. Participants in the program can have up to 3 pets per household spayed or neutered. For information on low-income veterinary services, click here. For TNVR (Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, Return) services, click here.
SPCA Suncoast: 7734 Congress St, New Port Richey. (727) 849-1048. Check out their Facebook page here.
Humane Society of Pasco County Inc.: 14949 Harmon Dr, Spring Hill, Phone: (727) 856-6762. Check out the Facebook page.
The Runaways Animal Rescue: 8020 Washington St, Port Richey. Rescue, adoption, and spay and neuter services. Additionally, we hope to build a humane community that promotes compassion and kindness, by controlling the overpopulation of these animals through Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), community outreach services, pet food bank, and education. Check out their website here. Check out their Facebook page here.
Rescue Pets of Florida: Wesley Chapel 6001 Wesley Grove Blvd Wesley Chapel (in Pasco County). Check out other locations and get more information on the website, here.
Leave Them Be Community Cat Program: Have you found a cat or kitten? In many cases, they don’t need your help because Mom will return for them. Learn more about that here.
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