John Coffelt, Editor

Girl Scout Troop 228, based out of the East Coffee Elementary School, recently helped the Coffee County Humane Society by collecting pet food and animal care items to help the charity in its mission to care for animals in the area.

Troop Leader Melissa Smithson said the girl scouts collected blankets, towels, animal beds, dog sweaters and leashes.

“Girl Scouts always want to help the community. It’s part of our helping out.”

Smithson thought the pet care drive would be a break from the angel tree and shoebox donations.

“They love the animal idea. Our slogan was Helping animals in need,” she said.   

At the January 30 Girl Scout meeting, CCHS representatives brought two rescue dogs, Bella Rose and Gypsy and a rescued cat, Allie. to get the message to a younger generation the importance of being responsible animal owners as the girls grow into adults.

“If you are going to have an animal, it’s not a piece of furniture; it’s not like a chair you don’t like you can get rid of. An animal is a responsibility, just like a child,” said CCHS Cat Coordinator Cindy Emanuel.

Emanuel heads up the group’s trap, neuter and release (TNR) program. She says that cats are worse than rabbits when it comes to excessive procreation.

“…we have to stop this overpopulation here in Coffee County because none of the shelters here take cats,” Emanuel said. “This is a vicious cycle we’re trying to break.”

Feral cats are trapped, then taken to a local vet to be spayed or neutered and then released back into to the location it was living. The corner of the animal’s ear is nipped off to show that it has been sterilized.

Emanuel said that cats’ reproductive cycle is constant, with a momma cat becoming ready to breed again within six weeks of having a litter.

One cat can have four or more kittens in a litter. Those kittens can begin to breed in as soon as 5 or six months later.

The population growth is expediential.

“These cats can have kitten after kitten after kitten,” Emanuel said.  

CCHS’s mission is to prevent animal suffering in the county.

We are not county run; we depend on donation from the public to allow is to do what we’re doing,” Emanuel said. “If you see anyone feeding (stray) cats, it’s really important to have your parents to tell them that we are available to help trap and spay and neuter them as long as they are ready to feed them,” she said.

CCHS’s Vera Lund offered the girls some county statistics. She said that Coffee County Animal Control takes in 75-100 per month. CCHS helps with that by fostering, connecting animals to rescue organizations and coordinating adoptions.

In addition to the adoption and TNR programs, CCHS helped 165 families who were down on their luck with pet food, 193 people with emergency vet bills, 228 cat and dogs were adopted out and 656 animals were spayed or neutered.

“That’s a lot of animals not reproducing, but there’s a lot more out there,” Emanuel said.    

Contact the Coffee County Humane Society by calling 728-0903.    

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.