This is being quoted from a message to be tentatively sent to Governor Hochul. I hope this petition is a vehicle for people in the area to have their say, about what seems to me, individuals shouldering public burdens. 

"In the CNY area there are cats reproducing at high rates, and it is placing a strain on the goodwill of the people who are passionate about animal care. Within my area of observation, and going from most to least, there is a woman who cares for around 40 strays in a barn, who uses her own money and donations to support them, there is a woman with 19 strays who works three jobs to support her own household and the cats, and then there are many individual households caring for strays, who are being met with exorbitant veterinary costs which is delaying needful action and exacerbating the issue. To give some numbers, the local cost of spaying floats around $150, this doesn't cover shots or de-worming, but it can extend up to $800. Here is a quote from a public posting circa December from a neighbor in Pompey NY about one stray "...We've already updated her shots and treated her for a bad case of parasites. She is still isolating in our basement to keep our other cats from getting her worms. But now the girl is in heat, and needs to be spayed. The local vet is quoting us at $800 for the entire work-up. That plus the $250 we've already paid for her treatments puts us over $1000. Of course we will pay it but damn money is tight this holiday season and this is a major unforeseen expense."

As you can see, one cat is a large expense especially for people who do not intend to adopt a cat, but only out of goodwill take them out of adverse conditions. My mother is one of those cases as well, who this winter took two strays off the street, but after pregnancies is now totaled to 11 new additional cats. Each of these has to be spayed (and de-wormed) and while there are low-cost clinics (CNY Snap in Cortland quotes at around $70 per stray) the people of the area are largely individually shouldering costs in what has now become a town issue; this is to say without the efforts of these people the area would likely be subject to a larger scale animal issue. Some may say that euthanization is an easy remedy, but this goes against what the individuals of this area have devoted themselves to, which is the well-being of the animals; temporary and immediate assistance is all that is required. 

It should be noted that the burdens which the veterinarians and shelters shoulder, I do not have adequate information to speak on, but can guess at given present conditions.

So, as this issue is widespread, the petition that I will begin today is for an immediate assistance program to help the people of this area bring harmony to the animal population by making costs affordable so that cost is not a barrier. The petition is more for temporary assistance rather than permanent. A possible suggestion would be to fund veterinarians so that they may run a span of free clinic services. 

Overall, there are broad shoulders in this community who have twinly devoted themselves to the welfare of both animal and public, and it is they who need assistance in order to maintain conditions consistent with the call a compassionate society."