An uncontrolled cat population in Manheim Borough has become a problem.

Council member Susan Miller said her yard is overrun with strays, and she placed the blame on people who feed the wild cats.

"There are cats present everywhere," Miller said about her neighborhood. "You can't mow your lawn. I'm not kidding, there are 30 stray cats."

She suggested drafting an ordinance to ban the feeding of stray cats at the borough meeting Sept. 9.

But enforcement of a possible feeding ban was questioned.

"I'd hate to see an ordinance put in place that we can't enforce," Mayor Randall Kreiser said.

Police Chief Barry Weidman said, in a joking manner, "Let's say we create an ordinance and we become cat catchers, which I really want to do, it will cost the borough a fortune."

Miller said she had contacted the Humane League of Lancaster County and the Organization for Responsible Care of Animals and was told she would have to trap them herself. Holding down a full-time job does not allow time for that, she said.

As it turns out, there is no easy fix.

"It's difficult to stop caring people" from feeding stray cats, said Nancy Peterson, cat program manager for The Humane Society of the United States in a phone interview Sept. 16.

Mike Koberstein, a former volunteer and current cat coordinator for the Lancaster Humane League said in a phone interview Sept. 16 the feral cat population in Manheim is an example of the problem exploding across Lancaster County. He said a single female cat can give birth to as many as 15 kittens a year. Each of those kittens can begin producing litters within six months.

Mandating no feeding is not effective, said Megan Gallagher Clark, vice president of development and outreach for the Humane League in a phone interview Sept. 16. The borough would have to mandate lids on garbage cans, and the police would have to enforce it, Clark said.

Animal control is a municipal issue, Clark said.

The Humane League realizes hiring an animal control officer is expensive, so the league recently began offering a feral cat program that marked a departure from the past practice of euthanizing strays.

In the past, cats were trapped and put down by the Humane League.

About 5,000 cats were destroyed annually, said Clark.

She said, "You can't control overpopulation through euthanasia. There is a vacuum effect. When people remove a bunch of cats from an area, the females produce more litters."

She said a stable cat colony actually discourages the birthrate and keeps other stray cats from infiltrating the colony.

The method that works is called trap-neuter-release, Peterson said.

Cats put through the TNR program are trapped, surgically neutered during an appointment at the Human League and released back in the wild. During the surgery, they are given a rabies vaccine, and the left ear is clipped to identify that they have been treated.

For a $55 deposit, a resident is loaned a cat trap from the league. The cost for surgery is $10. The services would cost $300 at a private veterinarian's office.

Peterson said a stable nonbreeding cat colony is more humane for the cats and safer for the community.

However, she said there are not enough resources to keep up with demand. Appointments for this year already are reserved.

"We think (TNR) is the most humane and effective means," Peterson said. "Killing, attempting feeding bans has not worked. It's a challenge."