DeBary, Florida Makes Feral Cat Program Permanent by Ordinance

DEBARY, Fla. – The DeBary City Council has voted to make the city’s trap-neuter-release program a permanent permit ordinance, formalizing nearly a decade of work led by Councilmember Patricia Stevenson ahead of her departure from office.

The TNR program traps feral cats, has them surgically neutered and returns them to the locations where they were found. Although the effort has operated in DeBary for about 10 years, it had not previously been written into city law.

How the program works

Volunteers capture free-roaming cats and keep them in traps during recovery before releasing them at their original locations. Central Florida Community Pet Clinic performs the surgeries and carefully matches each cat with its trap before and after the procedure.

“We literally go out and trap… we hold them in this trap for the duration of their recovery, and then they are released back to where they came from,” said Robin McClintock, a program volunteer.

At the clinic, staff use a dedicated recovery area for cats after surgery. The space has earned the nickname “the Beach.”

“This is where everybody gets prepped. This is the Beach. We call it the Beach. This is where they recover after surgery,” a clinic staff member said.

Why it matters

Stevenson, who approached Central Florida Community Pet Clinic about the partnership, said TNR helps control the cat population while also reducing nuisance behavior and supporting public health.

“This is very important because people just want to feed the cats and help them and take care of them. And if they did that alone, they would continue to overpopulate and reproduce,” Stevenson said.

To expand the program, Stevenson helped establish a nonprofit organization and build a larger volunteer network.

“With the help of some friends, we started a nonprofit and we’ve gotten more volunteers, and the organization level has definitely increased. We’re able to answer calls for requests for cats very quickly,” she said.

McClintock said volunteers have trapped 160 cats and kittens so far this year.

A legacy project

Stevenson is set to leave the DeBary City Council in a few months, but she said her work with the organization she helped create will continue.

The new permit ordinance moves the TNR effort beyond a volunteer-driven passion project and establishes it as a permanent part of DeBary’s city policy.