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Resident urges council to adopt trap-neuter-vaccinate-return policy for outdoor cats
Summary
A resident urged the council to update local ordinances to align with Utah's Community Cat Act and adopt a trap-neuter-vaccinate-return (TNVR) approach, saying current practice leads to impoundment and killing of healthy community cats and wastes shelter resources.
During the meeting’s open public comment period, Provo resident Katie Volpe urged the council to adopt humane, evidence-based policies for outdoor community cats, specifically asking the city to stop impounding and killing healthy community cats and to implement a trap-neuter-vaccinate-return (TNVR) program in line with Utah’s Community Cat Act.
Volpe described her experience as a postal carrier and said she became attached to outdoor cats along her route. She told the council she was disappointed that a TNVR pilot program supported by Best Friends Animal Society was withdrawn after the city and police could not reach an agreement, despite prior support from the mayor, council and public polling that showed majority support. Volpe said Utah County remains an outlier in the state and argued that ongoing impoundment of healthy outdoor cats wastes shelter resources and taxpayer dollars.
She also cited a figure she attributed to local shelter statistics: a South Utah Valley shelter save rate for cats of 56 percent, meaning nearly half did not leave alive; she used that number to underline the stakes of changing shelter practices.
The council did not take formal action on the matter during the meeting; council staff reminded listeners that items not on the agenda cannot receive formal action at that session.
