For three days, a stray orange cat named Maisie limped through Hamilton with a raccoon trap clamped to her leg. By the time she was found on someone’s property, her leg was barely attached to her body.
Terri Doumit, founder of Operation Colony Cats in Columbus, rushed to help. Working alongside the Oktibbeha County Humane Society, she ensured Maisie received immediate medical attention. After rounds of antibiotics and an amputation, Maisie was put up for adoption for a second chance at life.
Doumit started OCC in 2019 alongside two friends in a gas station parking lot in east Columbus. Their goal was simple: trap stray and feral cats, get them neutered and release them.
“I had no experience at the time but knew spay and neuter was super duper important to stop the pet overpopulation issue,” Doumit said. “Euthanasia rates were at an all-time high … up to a 75% kill rate, and it just broke my heart because the feral cats, the ones living in colonies in Columbus, have no protection, and they don’t really have a lot of people who care about them.”
That first day, Doumit and her team rounded up 62 cats and kittens to be spayed or neutered. Since then, OCC has spayed or neutered more than 6,672 cats and kittens and made 3,579 available for adoption across the U.S. and Canada. Doumit’s mission is to curb overpopulation and euthanasia of cats and kittens across Mississippi.
“What hurts my heart is that they’ve done nothing wrong, but they are always in trouble because we humans aren’t spaying and neutering,” she said. “So they continue to procreate, and then it becomes a problem because there are so many.”
With a small team of six trappers, OCC works across Lowndes County and sometimes further, capturing stray and feral cats. The organization operates almost entirely on donations, raising anywhere from $25 to $300 per month through Facebook fundraisers to cover vaccinations, spaying, neutering and other medical care before the cats are released back into their colonies or sent to foster families.
OCC works closely with both Columbus-Lowndes Humane Society and Oktibbeha County Humane Society, both of which call on OCC when they have a sick litter, an injured kitten or are dealing with overflow. Oktibbeha County Humane Society also provides medical care to cats whose owners can’t afford spaying and neutering.
Mississippi State University’s Office of Veterinary Medicine in Starkville provides care for feral and stray cats. Feral cats are re-released while tame strays are placed with one of OCC’s 25 foster families until they find permanent homes.
OCC doesn’t typically adopt cats out locally. Instead, the organization partners with Sweet Paws Rescue, a foster-based organization in Massachusetts. Sweet Paws Rescue donates around $60 per foster kitten and cat to ensure that they are properly tended to medically before the animals are taken north to be adopted. The rescue organization also donates medicine for OCC to keep on hand. Over the last five years, OCC has brought around 3,218 cats and kittens to the rescue.
Jill Johnson, of Columbus, is one of OCC’s most devoted fosters. Last year alone, she cared for 161 cats and kittens.
“I’ve always loved cats. It was no problem whatsoever to get me to help,” Johnson said. “This one I have right now is the least amount I’ve had before. I have six right now. I have had up to 28 at one time.”
Johnson, who has fostered for OCC since its early days, has no plans of stopping.
“In Mississippi, it’s ridiculous all the cats that are just thrown out,” she said. “It just breaks your heart that people do not value their animals. … I just love cats and want to be able to help them as much as I can.”
Despite OCC’s impact, Doumit sometimes feels discouraged.
“You spay and neuter all these hundreds of animals, and you think, surely, this is going to be the year we’ve made a change,” she said. “… So you get in these colonies, and you end up with the same number you had last year.”
Still, her team remains committed.
“But what we all remind each other of when we have these days. … We may not be making a huge difference right now for all the ones that still need help, but we’ve made a difference for all the ones who’ve been spayed and neutered and who have been adopted,” Doumit said. “So you have to look at what we’ve done, versus the work that’s still left to do.”
For Doumit, the key to reducing Mississippi’s cat overpopulation crisis lies in education. She hopes to focus more on raising awareness about the importance of spaying and neutering in the future.
“I feel like going forward, education is the key. … I’m just hoping that other people will get something from that too, and that maybe one day we won’t have to euthanize animals just because they were born,” she said.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
