Feral cat fix comes to Essex

Feral cats in Essex are about to get fixed.

Town council on Tuesday approved a spay-and-neuter voucher program similar to the one Windsor started as a pilot project last year.

The Essex program will allow for 125 stray cats to be spayed or neutered.

Another 125 vouchers, worth $75 each, will be set aside for low-income families to get their cats and dogs fixed.

The total cost of the program is almost $19,000.

Melanie Coulter, executive director of the local humane society said Windsor's voucher program, which has been renewed for a second year and applies only to cats, has reduced the number feral cats in the city.

She'd like every town in Essex County to get on board.

"Certainly, we've seen our intake drop by more than a thousand cats and that's over a single year, and that is very exciting for us and we're seeing that trend continue this year," she said.

Coulter will try to convince other town councils in the county to approve similar voucher programs.

Mike Gabor, known as the Cat Man, is pleased the program is going ahead.

His group, Earn Your Wings, traps and fixes stray cats, then lets them loose.

"We have a great program. We have a massive group started. We're going to change Windsor and we're going ahead to change every municipality out in the county," he promised.