Sharon McCabe has always been a cat person, but the Alvinston woman has been taking that to the extreme lately as she works with a new group called Alvinston Feral Cats.

McCabe started the group to care for about 80 feral cats which make their home in the community. It started around the time Betty White – a celebrity with a love for animals – passed away. A viral challenge asked people to give money to animal charities on what would have been her 100th birthday.

The group feeds the animals and traps them so they can receive veterinarian care including spay and neutering.

McCabe says without this work Alvinston is “going to be overrun. We’re already getting overrun.”

There are other problems. Lots of cats attract unwanted attention from other animals. “I think it is attracting the coyotes into town.” That can lead to small pets disappearing.

McCabe says the group has begun the work of making sure the colony doesn’t reproduce. “We’re kind of hoping to neuter all the females first, then all the males and stop the kitten explosion within the next two years,” she says.

McCabe says they’ve already fixed eight cats, but it is not easy work. “They’re wily; we can set the traps and they know how to step over the trip plate, get the food and leave.”

Once the cat is caught, it cost $200 to have them neutered. The group recently raised money at a yard sale to help pay for what McCabe calls “a labour of love.”