07/14/2025
This article was in our local Villager Newspapers and it tells of the crisis our state and our community is in regarding the epidemic of unwanted cats and kittens.
Let's face it- we are overwhelmed with calls, emails, tags on facebook and we are helpless on what to do. The article mentions we have 120 cats in our shelter, but it does not reflect the ones in foster care that we still have a responsibility to care for.
We are working with local vets to help create programs for low cost spay/neuter. We are thankful for Quinebaug Valley Veterinary Hospital, LLC, Lebanon Veterinary Hospital, LLC, and Foster Veterinary Clinic that we currently partner with.
We are thankful for Eastford Veterinary Clinic who has a low cost program but it is not enough, we need more. We need more vets to step up and say we want to be part of the solution!!
We know we cannot depend on the state for assistance. We know our local towns are struggling as well, so we are reaching out we are pleading for our communities help. The only way to stop this madness is low cost spay neuter. For every cat we get an appointment for, we add another 5 to our list.
We figured out that when we were being interviewed, that in the past 4 weeks, we had calls for help for about 60 cats and kittens. Yes, that is right 60... 60 cats and kittens we cannot take in because we physically have no room. We have to balance the cost to run the shelter and the cost to help our community and it is a very delicate balance.
This is where you come in. How can you help??
When we post a cat that we are helping because someone has reached out for help, please donate and if you cannot donate, share.
Our online fundraisers are how we raise money to pay our vet bills and if we do not pay our vet bills, we cannot help our community. Our current one is the calendar fundraiser, please share.
We can use dry food donations as these people are also reaching out to us for help feeding them. We can use monetary donations to help off set our costs.
Next week we have 20+ cats going to Lebanon Veterinary Hospital, LLC to get fixed. If you want, call them (860-642-7936) and ask to put a donation on the Paws account.
We may be posting today, but this issue will be there tomorrow, next week and next month. We are tired but we know we need to keep going as we have a commitment to our cats and the cats in our community.
Yes, we are FULL!! It is something we do not say lightly and it does weigh heavily on all of us. We have sleepless nights wondering what is happening to the ones we could not take in, are they ok, are they hungry, are they safe? And we cry, we cry alot.
So, please when you see us sharing a cat or posting a fundraiser or someplace our volunteers will be, please think about this post and say what can I do to help??
Jason Bleau
Paws in Putnam depends heavily on volunteers to assist its roughly 120 cats in its shelter. They are hoping to raise awareness of the overpopulation crisis to help those they cannot house.
Paws spreads awareness of cat overpopulation “crisis”
BY JASON BLEAU
VILLAGER CORRESPONDENT
PUTNAM — The population of stray cats and kittens in the Quiet Corner has increased dramatically over the past few years, leaving local animal control and shelters struggling to control a situation that has been deemed a “crisis.”
One of the leading organizations working to help put an end to the overpopulation is Paws Cat Shelter, a non-profit, volunteer-operated shelter in Putnam that has launched initiatives to assist locals with low cost spay and neuter programs and help educate the community on how to respond if they find a family of cats and kittens that need to be rescued or fixed.
Cases of animal abandonment or lack of proper care to animals has seen an increase, especially in recent years as the cost of vet bills have proven difficult for fixed income families forcing owners to either release their pets or avoid paying to have them fixed. This has resulted in cats breeding in the wild creating dangerous situations for the animals by encouraging increased activities of predators and the spread of diseases among these populations. While Paws as the local shelter tries to help, the organization’s President Fay Beriau admits the problem has become an “epidemic” that has been hard to manage due to their limited space and resources.
“There are so many stray cats out there reproducing, and it’s to the point where we get so many calls for mothers with kittens and we can help fix the mom, but we can’t take the kittens. We’re turning our focus more to getting animals spayed and neutered. We’re working with Lebanon Vet who has set up a lot of programs – It's a struggle, but we have to balance our shelter’s needs and our community’s needs especially with our finances,” Beriau said.
Paws takes in whatever they can, but with roughly 120 cats in the shelter they are at capacity and unable to shelter many of the strays especially kittens. The sheer number of colonies have become overwhelming with reports of families as far south as Plainfield and as far north as Thompson, some containing as many as 30 cats between the parents and the kittens. The number of calls Paws gets weekly is “astronomical,” says Beriau, leading the organization to launch public education initiatives and seek solutions through partnerships with vet programs in Connecticut and Massachusetts. These include low-cost spay and neuter programs, providing guidance for anyone who locates a colony on their property, and trap-neuter-return (TNR) efforts that may not solve the existing kitten population problem but can prevent continued breeding. Beriau calls this effort “Cats in Crisis,” and said there are real risks of continued population growth not just for these cats, but for the entire region.
“When they keep reproducing you have illness. You have predators out there. It’s not healthy for the cat. TNR does work. We have a colony we know is down to two now after being up to thirty after all these years. They need to be fixed. It will stop that population boom of the cats and kittens. We need to make sure they’re happy and healthy and minimize what’s going on. Also, if it gets full in one place they will migrate somewhere else,” Beriau said.
Paws recently received grants from Putnam Walmart and Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut to help with their spay and neuter efforts, which often involve transporting numerous cats at once to vets in Massachusetts to have them fixed at low cost. This funding also helps the organization offset some of the cost of owners who call the shelter to seek help with paying for the procedures. While there is no easy solution to the overpopulation problem, the agency is doing their best starting with education and helping owners keep their cats housed and fixed.
Paws is currently working to produce a guide for pet owners to lead them to low cost spay and neuter programs and is always seeking volunteers willing to help transport animals, trap and release, or even donate food or finances to help keep pets housed and help pet owners with vet expenses. It’s not an easy effort, but it's one Paws has committed itself to for the betterment of not only the health of the local community, but the health and safety of the cat population in general.
Pet and property owners who need guidance and assistance with their pets or colonies or those who are seeking a way to help with the Cats in Crisis effort can contact Paws Cat Shelter at 860-315-1228, visit them at 74 School St. in Putnam, or contact them through Facebook.
