UNLV HONORS SOCIETY HOOKED ON HELPING FERAL CATS

The members of Alpha Epsilon Delta (AED), the pre-health Honors Society at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas thought they would help out at one HCWS Feral Cat Clinic, but now they are hooked.  The pre-med, pre-dental, pre-pharmacy and pre-veterinary students have become regular volunteers at the once a month clinic to spay and neuter feral cats.

Feral cats are the wild offspring of domestic housecats that have gotten lost or were abandoned by their owners.  They live in colonies throughout Las Vegas and breed at uncontrollable rates.  Most end up becoming victims of starvation, wild animals or unkind humans.

The Feral Cat Clinic is part of our Trap-Neuter-Release program that tries to stop the suffering of these felines.

HCWS spays and neuters 200 – 300 hundred feral cats at every clinic. So the help given by the AED members is appreciated very much.  The students assist in all areas of the clinic.  They support the vet-techs while the cats are being prepared for surgery and care for them while they are waking-up.  Dr. David Henderson, the HCWS veterinary director, even gave the students a chance to watch a surgery being performed.

Sam Coogan, who oversees the AED group said, “The members absolutely love these clinics.  I get emails all the time about when the next ones are and people wanting to sign up.  After the first clinic, everyone from AED said we need to keep coming back.”

HCWS is very happy the UNLV students decided to get involved at the monthly Feral Cat Clinics.  They are a dedicated group of hardworking students and we hope to see them for a long time.