Volunteers with Galway Cat Rescue braved Storm Betty last weekend to trap, neuter and return (TNR) a colony of feral cats in South Conamara.

Some 23 cats were successfully trapped during the storm and brought to Muintearas Community Centre in Leitir Móir where they were treated by a team of Galway vets.

Vets and veterinary nurses from Craughwell Veterinary, Briarhill Veterinary Clinic and Clifden Vets volunteered their time free of charge for the operation that was planned weeks in advance.

The professionals helped to complete the neuter/spaying of twelve male and eleven female cats, as well as conducting health checks, parasite treatments and ear-tips.

“A production line turned into a reduction line, ending the needless births of more kittens and preserving colony numbers to manageable numbers,” said Olivia O’Reilly, director of Galway Cat Rescue.

The TNR task was made more difficult by Storm Betty.

“I was on the edge of the Atlantic trying to catch cats in an absolute deluge out there with thunder, lightning, gales,” said Ms O’Reilly.

TNR is being trialed in areas with poor access to veterinary clinics. It’s for feral cats that you could not pick up and put into carrier to bring to a vet. “They have to be humanely trapped with a food trap that goes off itself,” she said.

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Photo: Olivia O’Reilly, director of Galway Cat Rescue.