Florida Southern College in Lakeland will use an interesting approach to deal with a feral cat population on its campus.

It will build a half dozen what it calls "cat cafes."



The small structures will look like the many campus buildings designed by famed architect Frank LLoyd Wright. The buildings are in the planning phase, but they should be in place some time in the near future.



The college estimates there are about 60 feral cats on campus. They are apparently fed by students. The Alpha Chi Omega sorority will put food in the cat cafes in hopes the cats will get used to eating in them and make it easier to catch them.

Once the cats are caught, the SPCA in Lakeland will spay, neuter and microchip them in a mobile facility it will bring to the campus.



The cats will then be released back on the campus. The belief is that since the cats can't reproduce, the feral cat population will diminish over time.

"It has been proven that once you spay and neuter and maintain a colony, it goes from what the number was to literally zero over a period of time," the SPCA's Randa Richter said.

SPCA prefers to use the term "community cat" to describe the animals.



The Alpha Chi Omega sorority will continue to feed the cats in the cat cafes and monitor their welfare even after they have been spayed and neutered.

Larissa Town and other sorority members consider the cats campus pets.

"Well, I'm really big on cats and animals, so the fact that we take care of the animals here was a nice little touch for me," she said. "It's kind of homey, I guess."



