Update: Tioga County Cat Project says that after reading our story online, someone from New Hampshire reached out to adopt Nietzsche, the kitten in the photo above.
A local nonprofit helping stray cats worries they will soon be unable to meet community needs.
When the Tioga County Cat Project started in 2020, it only served as a trap-neuter-release (TNR) program in Elkland, Pennsylvania. However, that quickly changed as President and Founder Laura Clarson had to put clients and animals on a waiting list.
“Y’know, our waiting list for helping people was growing and growing and growing. Basically, [we] always have over… about 200 people and over a thousand cats,” said Clarson. “And it very quickly became obvious that there was a lot more need than we even initially realized.”
Tioga County does not have a dedicated SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). All of its shelters/animal centers are nonprofits.
Clarson said she started getting calls from across the county – and not just for TNR services for cats, but for vaccinations, food, and animal relocation. They started serving dogs as well. The project later partnered with Spay Neuter Save Network from Bradford County in 2023.
“Somehow we went from 25 cats a month to about 140 a month. And it still kind of feels like trying to save the Titanic with a ladle,” said Clarson. “But I think we’re making progress.”
In 2023, the Project reached out to county commissioners for Act 13 Impact funding. It’s given by the state’s Public Utility Commission (PUC) to any county and some municipalities that have unconventional gas wells – usually fracking wells – nearby. Counties and municipalities can use their funds for social and environmental services, as well as for their capital reserve fund.
As of 2022, PUC’s most recent data, Tioga County got over four million dollars in Act 13 funds, making them the 6th largest county recipient.
However, before the Project could meet with commissioners in Nov., they got a letter canceling their meeting. Clarson said commissioners told her that TNR wasn’t a social or environmental service. She’s asking the new commissioners – all three took office last week – to reconsider her program. She argued that it’s both a social and environmental service, they often help families who face homelessness.
“And we got talking with them, and y’know, I was like, ‘This isn’t right that there’s no help for these people.’ They’re living in a camper and they’re just struggling to get by. And they want to do the right thing, but they don’t have the resources,” said Clarson.
That family had three cats and a dog who needed to be fixed. Clarson said they had adopted their animals while financially stable, but that their situation had taken a turn for the worse.
The Project started fundraising for the family on Facebook, raising enough money to cover all of their pets’ medical fees and an extra $500 for the family.
The Project plans to ask the new commissioners for Act 13 funds. If approved, they hope to set aside money for disabled veterans and seniors, free or reduced spay and neuter, and for the county’s most rural areas.
For more information on the Project, visit https://www.tiogacountycatproject.com/. They also have a Chewy wish list with pet food and other needs.
