Feral cats a problem at Clovis Community Medical Center, but offer to help turned down

Feral/community cats are cats that live outdoors and avoid being handled or touched by humans. There are a large number of individuals who have chosen to feed, look after, and trap-neuter-return (TNR) the sizable feral feline population/colonies in Fresno County.

I have a Nonprofit 501c3 for the TNR of feral felines. Last month I was contacted about assisting with the TNR of the feral/colony cats living on the Clovis Community Medical Center campus. Shortly after that initial contact, I was again contacted and advised that Clovis Community had banned these individuals from feeding or TNRing the feral cats that call that campus home, and were told that they would be arrested for trespassing.

I also work at CRMC Fresno and know that there are feral cats that call that campus home. I reached out to the supervisor of security communications at CRMC to ascertain their stance on feeding and TNRing campus cats. I was advised there is no issue with that.

I then reached out to the security manager at the Clovis campus and was advised that trapping-neutering-returning was not allowed and actively discouraged. I advised him that this approach would not discourage cats or cause them to go elsewhere.

I am writing this to educate the public about feral/colony cats, and to inform the public about the stance being taken by the Clovis hospital campus.

There is a misunderstanding that if you do nothing with/for these cats, they will go away. Contrary to that belief, the population will only grow and the cats will have more nuisance issues. Instead of chastising/punishing the individuals willing to take on the huge responsibility of feeding and caring for these cats, they should be applauded for stepping up and trying to improve the situation that was created by the human race.

Hopefully education will bring understanding and encourage support for the individuals who have willingly stepped up to take on this issue that that plagues Fresno County.