Feral cats coming out of anesthesia after being neutered or spayed at the South Georgia Low-Cost Spay & Neuter Clinic.

THOMASVILLE, Ga. — Feral cats big and small were wrapped hastily in newsprint Thursday afternoon at the South Georgia Low-Cost Spay & Neuter Clinic on Covington Avenue.

The felines were coming out of anesthesia after being neutered or spayed earlier in the day. As the cats regained consciousness, clinic personnel wrapped them in newspaper to transfer the cats to cages for transport.

Cats’ heads protruded from the newsprint, which protected personnel from being injured by the ferals as they awakened.

Since the clinic opened in June 2015, more than 5,000 dogs and cats have undergone surgery at the facility, preventing the births of close to 20,000 unwanted, homeless puppies and kittens.

Dogs are capable of producing two litters annually, with as many as eight or more puppies to the litter. Cats gives birth twice a year — sometimes three times — producing four to five kittens in each litter.

The clinic spayed 783 female dogs during the past 14 months. The canines ranged in age from five and half months to seven years. The clinic also spayed 1,373 female cats.

Dr. Craig Hines, clinic veterinarian and surgeon, said the number of births prevented does not take into account the offspring that would have been produced by the animals whose births were nixed by spaying and neutering.

The 34 cats and four dogs spayed or neutered on Thursday included 29 feral cats. Most of the feral felines, also known as community cats, were from the Humane Society of Valdosta, which has a trapping program, said clinic office manager Natalie Ballard.

The cats are sterilized surgically and returned to the colonies where they reside. The colonies eventually die out as more and more cats are rendered incapable of reproducing.

Thomasville has its share of feral cat colonies, including ferals who live at Cherokee Lake Park across Covington from the clinic.

“We set traps at the lake across the road,” Carol Jones, clinic executive director, explained.

Dr. Linda McGarrah, veterinarian at the clinic and the adjacent Miss Kitty Feline Sanctuary & Adoption Center, said a feral cat eats her cats’ food.

“I’ll be bringing him in to get him neutered,” she said.

Some of the cats spayed or neutered — and with good chances of being adopted — are from the Thomasville-Thomas County Humane Society.

The clinic, which is privately funded and serves a 75-mile radius of Thomasville, spays and neuters 35 to 40 animals a day. Cats and dogs arrive at the clinic at 7:30 a.m. and are ready to leave at 4:30 p.m. the same day.

Rescue groups in Mitchell and Colquitt counties and in Leon and Jefferson counties in Florida bring dogs and cats to the clinic.

Said Hines,”We do a lot of rescue groups.”

About half of the people who have used the clinic are from the private sector.

“Most of the animals we see would never have gone to a full-service veterinary hospital,” Jones explained, adding that many people still are not aware of the facility.

“It’s hard to imagine we’ve done 5,000,” Hines said.

“You would think you would run out of cats and dogs sooner or later.”

Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820