Nonprofit tackles stray cat issues in Tyrone

Purrfect Paws and Pals president Bridgette Gill and her husband, James, hold Patsy, a female cat that was found sick and skinny by one of the group’s fosters in Tyrone. The group later found out Patsy was from Bellwood, but her owner drove her to a farm in Port Matilda and left her there unspayed. Patsy is currently on medication to help a severe upper respiratory infection, Bridgette Gill said.
Courtesy photo

TYRONE — The Purrfect Paws and Pals nonprofit organization has been responsible for “drastically” reducing a stray cat issue in Tyrone Borough, Mayor William Latchford said.

Since resident Bridgette Gill and her husband, James, formed the group in August 2019, Purrfect Paws and Pals has fixed more than 850 stray cats and has found homes for more than 350 cats through an adoption process.

In 2019, a resident who complained at a borough council meeting about stray cats damaging his property kindled Bridgette Gill’s interest in forming the group, she said, adding she knew the benefits of spaying and neutering and wanted to get to the root of the town’s stray cat problem.

“I saw firsthand how effective (spay and neuter) could be if you just kept up with it,” she said, adding the group now fixes cats monthly at the Allegheny Spay & Neuter Clinic in Woodland, Clearfield County.

“Even if we can’t take them in and find them homes, if all we can do is fix them, it’s better than nothing,” Gill said.

Latchford said prior groups “just couldn’t get a handle on” the town’s growing population of stray cats, but the borough has seen a noticeable difference because of Purrfect Paws and Pals, which became a 501(c)(3) organization earlier this month.

“They’ve done a great job for us,” Latchford said, noting the borough authorized two $3,000 donations to the group — one last year and one this year — to help them maintain a low number of strays within the borough.

Gill said the borough’s funding last year helped the group spay, neuter and vaccinate about 35 cats.

“I think at this point they see the proof,” Gill said of the council’s donations. “They see the difference, and they know that it’s working.”

Purrfect Paws and Pals board members Rob and Tam Harmon, who own Tam’s Treasures along Pennsylvania Avenue, decided to start a catwalk earlier this year to give adoptable cats more visibility within the borough.

Rob Harmon said he got the idea after seeing the Daily Herald’s cat, Penny, in the newspaper’s office window.

“I said, ‘We’ll just put every cat out that’s available for adoption for people to see as they’re walking down the street and call it the catwalk and thus it was born,” he said, noting the effort helped the group adopt out more than a dozen cats so far in a couple of months.

“Putting them in the windows gives them more visual appearance to let people know because they walk past them all the time,” said Tam Harmon, adding people can fill out adoption applications and make donations to the group at their store, 1015 Pennsylvania Ave.

Rob Harmon said some of his customers have entered their store in search of used furniture and ended up leaving with a cat instead.

Gill said one cat was in the Harmons’ storefront window for less than 23 hours before someone adopted it.

“Somebody came in to buy a bench, left with a cat and never got the bench. That was probably the fastest application I have ever processed,” Gill said.

Gill said she hopes to educate people on the importance of spay and neuter. While other municipalities have tried trapping and euthanizing cats, that approach doesn’t work because when you remove a cat from a territory, new cats move in, Gill said.

“We can’t continue to build more shelters and have more rescues starting up and taking in more cats. That’s not the answer out of it. It’s spay and neuter,” Gill said.

“Tyrone is a very good study of what happens when you focus what little resources you do have in the right areas because spay and neuter is absolutely how we have got this under control,” she said.

According to Gill, the group has three “unsung heroes” who take in foster cats “at the drop of a hat” and provide feedback about the animals to the group, such as whether the cats get along with other animals.

Gill said it’s an art form to take a little hissy kitten that wants nothing to do with humans and turn them into a cuddly, purring lap cat, which the group’s fosters are able to do.

Candee Miller, one of the group’s foster volunteers, said she has always loved cats and enjoys helping the group because Gill “actually cares” about the cats and “does exactly what she says.”

“She traps them, she gets them vetted and, if they need help, she helps them and does her 100% best to adopt them and help them find homes,” Miller said.

Now that the group has received its 501(c)(3) certification, Gill said she hopes to find a grant writer who can secure funding for the group to continue its mission of trap, neuter and return.

“I would love to be able to offer some assistance to our community members in fixing their cats,” Gill said.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.