NEW YORK CITY — Call them cash cats.
A New York nonprofit is offering $10 for every feral feline that local volunteers trap and have spayed or neutered this October.
Neighborhood Cats, which works to help New Yorkers care for the city's feral cat colonies, is running the "Fall Fix" campaign using a donation from Maddie's Corner, the animal rights organization founded by actress Kristin Chenoweth.
Maddie's Corner agreed to fund the rewards for potentially hundreds of cats to be fixed and then returned to the urban wild.
"People work hard and put every extra dollar they have into these cats and this is just a little help," said Susan Richmond, the executive director of Neighborhood Cats who has worked in animal welfare for more than 25 years.
The campaign, which runs from Oct. 1 to 31, will build upon the work Neighborhood Cats does throughout the year to trap, neuter and release.
"We are hoping to fire up everybody about getting cats into the clinic," she said.
To cash in on the rebate program, volunteers must complete a TNR educational course through either Neighborhood Cats or the Humane Society University.
Every spay or neutered cat must also be documented with proof from the clinic that does the job.
The ASPCA charges $5 to a spay or neuter a cat. The Toby Clinic and the Humane Society offer some spays or neuters free of charge, according to Richmond.
Those who sign up for the rebate program can expect a check four to six weeks after the end of October, Richmond said.
Neighborhood Cats first ran a rebate program for TNR in the spring. In eight weeks, 774 cats were fixed.
One person caught about 70 cats — and was paid $700, according to Richmond.
"We just know that cat caretakers are incredibly committed and work hard," she said. "There are a lot of out-of-pocket expenses."
