Essex council have approved changes to their Spay and Neuter Voucher Program.
On Tuesday evening council was presented with a report looking to increase the spay and neuter voucher value from $75 to $200.
With this increase in value, the number of vouchers available will be reduced to 64 for feral cats and five for owned dogs and cats of low-income families from 175 and 10 respectively - which council approved.
The program first launched in 2013, however the Town is not seeing as many people use the resource available to them.
While the price to get a pet spayed and neutered can be very expensive, administration found that the available voucher amount did not cover the costs - showing the need for change in the value.
The Town is hoping that by reducing the amount of vouchers available, but increasing the value that more residents will apply.
Council also approved an additional $6,000 in the 2024 year for the Trap, Neuter, Return Program to be funded from the Animal Control Reserve to help better control the feral cat population.
This program has made great progress in controlling the feral cat population in the Town of Essex, which has already seen 112 feral cats neutered this year as of mid-August. In 2023, 119 feral cats were neutered in total.