Collier County shelter can take in cats again July 31, but rescue strain remains high

On July 17, Megan Sorbara posted a photo of a black-and-white tuxedo cat on Facebook, asking for help. She trapped the feral cat the night before and brought him to Collier County Domestic Animal Services, DAS, the next morning to be fixed. Staff turned her away.

“Keep a feral cat in a cage for two weeks? Release him back and never catch him again?” Sorbara wrote in frustration. “This is kitten season, you should be at least continuing TNR (trap-neuter-return), you know try and “fix” the problem so you don’t have to shut down intake year after year.”

Earlier this month, the county shelter announced it would temporarily halt public feline intake from July 14 through July 30, citing a spike in communicable diseases. But to many in Collier County’s animal rescue community, the closure is another sign of a system struggling to keep up with the growing overpopulation and leaving residents with nowhere to turn.

“Despite the best efforts of our staff and volunteers, we’re currently dealing with an increase in communicable diseases in cats,” DAS Director Meredith McLean said in a press release. “Temporarily pausing intake will help us reduce our feline census, protect the health of animals already in our care, and allow us to focus our resources on urgent, critical cases.”

The shelter saw a 60% increase in cat intake this June compared to the same time last year. DAS only accepted cats that were critically ill, injured, or at-risk during the intake closure.

This isn’t the first time the shelter has closed its intake. In August 2024, the county shelter paused intake after multiple cats tested positive for feline panleukopenia, a deadly and highly contagious virus. Each time, local rescues have been left to fill the gap, if they can.

More: Collier County cat rescues face ongoing challenges. A shelter’s temporary closure didn’t help

What did it mean for rescuers like Megan Sorbara?

Sorbara, who runs Purradise Gardens, a nonprofit cat rescue in Naples, said she had no choice but to pay $260 for a private veterinarian to neuter the cat the county shelter turned away. She relies on the county’s shelter TNR program to help control feral cat populations, especially during kitten season.

“It puts more pressure and more expense on these small groups that are not funded like they (DAS) are,” Sorbara said. “We don’t have staff. We don’t have payroll. We don’t have a ton of volunteers. We don’t have the whole county behind us, and it just puts a lot of pressure on the rest of the groups.”

To her, the shutdown wasn’t a logistical failure; it was a misuse of public resources.

“Those are county tax dollars that are operating that shelter, and the county (taxpayers) should be able to use it whenever they need it,” she said.

“It’s not a surprise. It happens every year,” Sorbara said, adding that closures like this one aren’t new, and the county should be better prepared.

“I do understand they shut down intake to avoid all these animals getting sick,” she said, “but at the same time, you know what happens every single year, you know what happens during kitten season, you know what happens during summer. This seems to always happen, so have a plan.”

Where to go when the county shelter is closed

While DAS’s feline intake was suspended, residents looked to private veterinarians or nonprofit groups. Some of those groups include:

Residents are encouraged to call ahead, as many local organizations are near or at capacity.

What can you do?

Advocates say lasting change will require a combination of policy changes, community involvement and people stepping up to help.

Here’s how you can help:

• Spay and neuter your pets

• Be a responsible pet owner by microchipping, licensing and securing your pets

• Support local rescue groups by donating, volunteering and fostering

The county shelter urged residents to consider fostering or adopting animals already in their care. All adoption fees have been waived through Sept. 9.

“We provide all veterinary care, supplies, and support; you just provide the space and love,” McLean said. “Even a short-term foster can make a life-saving difference for these animals and help us reduce our feline population.”

A crisis that’s not going away

As of July 30, the shelter reopened its feline intake. Without meaningful changes to enforcement, funding and community engagement, advocates fear more shutdowns are inevitable.

“The officers won’t trap. They said it takes too much time. They really do lean on the other organizations to do that work. And then for what? We don’t get anything out of it.”

Her group consists entirely of volunteers and depends solely on donations. “There’s only so much room we have,” she said.

Despite more than a decade of efforts, the need hasn’t let up. Sorbara’s nonprofit has focused its work on an industrial park near Shirley Street and Taylor Road, where volunteers feed over 100 feral cats every night. “Even with all of our trapping efforts and our daily feedings and care, we’re still getting kittens,” she said, adding that the work costs about $3,000 a month.

While county funding for animal control exists, Sorbara said it’s not reaching the boots-on-the-ground groups doing daily fieldwork. “There is funding there, but they’re just not using it,” Sorbara said.

Mickenzie Hannon is a watchdog reporter for The News-Press and Naples Daily News, covering Collier and Lee counties. Contact her at 239-435-3423 or mhannon@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Collier County shelter reopens cat intake after pause to fight disease