Feral cats are a problem in this central Illinois county. Here's how they're handling it

Tazewell County in June will roll out a new mechanism to help manage the growing local feral cat population.

Tazewell County Animal Control now addresses feral cat nuisance issues through trapping and humane euthanasia. The Tazewell County Board last month passed a resolution approving the launch of a new "Trap-Neuter-Return" program for feral cats.

“There have been a lot of calls from the public about feral cat nuisance issues in their communities,” said TCAC director Libby Aeschleman. “They’ve expressed a need for assistance from us in order to help them control populations.”

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What is the problem with feral cats?

Aeschleman said residents have complained about roaming feral cats destroying flower beds or spraying, along with concerns about the safety of pets, local wildlife populations and the cats themselves. “Somebody might see a lot of feral cats in their area," she said, "and notice it’s gotten to the point where a lot of animals get hit on the roads."

There are about 70 million feral cats in the United States. Aeschleman estimated that about 27,500 feral cats reside in Tazewell County. Between 2019 and 2023, TCAC brought in 1,085 cats for euthanasia, less than 3% of the county’s feral cat population.

“In order to get ahead of the reproduction curve," she said, "we would have to trap and euthanize 50% of these cats, which is a lot more than we’re physically capable of doing."

When does the new program launch?

Aeschleman hopes the TCAC can launch the TNR program by the beginning of June. TCAC will send animal control officers to areas where feral cats have been reported. After obtaining residents’ permission to set traps, they will set them on designated days of the week. The captured animals will then be spayed or neutered, vaccinated for rabies, and returned to the same geographic area where they were trapped.

“We’re still getting equipment, working out spay and neuter schedules, and talking to local residents about where the best places are to start trapping,” she said.

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Savannah Gotschall of Mackinaw said she has not noticed a lot of feral cats roaming the community, and she certainly does not believe they have developed into a nuisance. However, she is supportive of managing the population with a "Trap-Neuter-Return" program rather than euthanasia.

"Instead of killing them, they're going to 'fix' them," she said. "I think that will solve most of the problem."

What about feral cats in Peoria and Woodford counties?

Becky Spencer, director of the Peoria County Animal Protection Society, said PCAPS has a "Trap-Neuter-Return" program, but only in the county’s unincorporated and rural areas. Several Peoria County municipalities do not allow trapping. A group of students from the University of Illinois-Chicago recently surveyed 1,000 Peoria County residents, and Spencer said the results were favorable toward expanding the program.

“We’re still reviewing those results," Spencer said, "and kind of deciding how we want to move forward in the municipalities."

Woodford County’s animal control duties were transferred to the Woodford County Sheriff’s Office last month. Sheriff’s Deputy and animal control warden Alan Burton said he has not been made aware of any issues regarding feral cats in the mostly rural county.

“We enforce county ordinances and applicable Illinois statutes concerning animal welfare, which include cats,” he said. “But we don't have any program in place at the Sheriff's Office to address concerns regarding feral cats.”

Burton noted that the Bloomington-based non-profit organization Sterile Feral Foundation of Central Illinois offers "Trap-Neuter-Return" services in Woodford County, while the Metamora-based non-profit Cats of Woodford County rescues stray or abandoned cats and works to find them homes.