BROOKE COUNTY, W.Va. (WTRF) Kitten season is once again here.

This is the time of year where there is an influx of pregnant cats which adds strain to animal shelters across the Ohio Valley.

May and June are the peak times where the highest number of kittens enter the shelters.

Brooke County Shelter Volunteer, Steve Tennant says there are roughly 2,200 free roaming cats just in the county and about 180,000 in the Mountain State.

To help combat this nationwide crisis on a local level, the shelter is using a grant they recently got to help combat this issue.

“Trap, Neuter and you return and now that we have that grant here in the county we can start offering TNR’s for people who are managing colonies of free roamers, community kittens, community cats.”

Steve Tennant – Volunteer/Brooke County Animal Shelter
CountyEstimated number of Stray Cats
Barbour1,535
Berkeley13,608
Boone2,017
Braxton1,197
Brooke2,200
Cabell9,120
Calhoun587
Clay765
Doddridge762
Fayette3,830
Gilmer720
Grant1,089
Greenbrier3,191
Hampshire2,366
Hancock2,733
Hardy1,427
Harrison6,387
Jackson2,763
Jefferson5,990
Kanawha17,056
Lewis1,651
Lincoln1,932
Logan3,011
McDowell1,672
Marion5,562
Marshall2,884
Mason2,442
Mercer5,767
Mineral2,683
Mingo2,153
Monongalia10,763
Monroe1,212
Morgan1,773
Nicholas2,418
Ohio4,059
Pendleton588
Pleasant753
Pocahontas768
Preston3,398
Putnam5,634
Raleigh7,104
Randolph2,702
Ritchie785
Roane1,368
Summers1,150
Taylor1,606
Tucker635
Tyler806
Upshur2,350
Wayne3,693
Webster793
Wetzel1,369
Wirt516
Wood8,244
Wyoming1,960

If you wish to learn more about the Brooke Animal Shelter or find out ways you can get involved call the shelter at 304-394-0800.