Fifteen years ago, before Bermuda Feline Assistance Bureau (BFAB) was set up, stray cats in Bermuda didn?t stand much chance of survival if caught.

According to Juliet Wilkinson, a bureau volunteer who spends four nights a week trapping cats in order for them to be neutered or spayed, rounded-up pussies were automatically put down, regardless of their health.

Thankfully, things have changed. Since 1992, the bureau has been on a mission to keep the number of cats at an acceptable level with its trap, neuter and release programme.

Animal lover Juliet, a mother-of-three and grandmother-of-seven who thinks nothing of travelling from the east to the west of the Island and back again in a night to catch kitties, says the scheme is a humane way of stopping the population increasing.

Juliet?s job is to lay the traps ? wire cages with a door which snaps shut when the cat steps inside to retrieve food ? around the Island when people call the bureau to report strays.

On Tuesday night, her first stop is a farm in Pembroke where she set a trap earlier in the day to catch a feral feline which has already delivered three kittens.

Farmer?s wife Philomena DeSilva is more than happy to feed the cat and care for its kittens ? but she doesn?t think the farm can cope with any more little ones running around.

She has asked the bureau to help out ? and Juliet is only to happy to assist. But while the trio of cute kittens ? Gracie, Callie and Francine ? dash about, there is no sign of mum.

?They seem to know when you are coming around,? laughs Juliet, peering into the empty cage, which is hidden under a blanket. ?But I won?t give up until I?ve got her.?

Each night, Juliet trawls the Island laying traps, checking cages and dropping off animals at the two hospitals which carry out the surgery at a discounted rate for the bureau: Endsmeet in Devonshire and Hannover Veterinary in St. David?s.

On Tuesday, Juliet collects two cats at Hannover ? a male and female who were operated on that day. Both will be taken back to the exact spot where they were caught, as are all the mature animals trapped by the bureau.

By returning them to the same place, other cats are put off from entering the area and the ?colony? can stabilise. The surgery reduces mating and fighting, meaning less noise.

Vet Dr. Jan Cieters explains that the castration of males take about 30 seconds while spaying females is a 20-minute job. Neutering costs about $50 and spaying more than $100.

The cats, who are also de-wormed and de-flead at the hospitals, are usually given their anaesthetic intramuscularly while still in the cage and are completely alert by the time they return to the outdoors.

While under the anaesthetic, the cats have their ears tagged at Hannover or the very left tip of their ear removed at Endsmeet to show that they have had surgery.

All the cats are tested for FIV (the feline equivalent of HIV) and leukaemia. Those testing positive for either, usually just a few each month, are put down.

?FIV is under control because of all the testing and neutering,? says Juliet. ?It didn?t used to be that way but it?s definitely improved.?

Some of the animals caught by volunteers, especially the kittens, get adopted. But the majority of older strays are unwanted and fend for themselves, with the help of ?feeders? ? cat lovers stationed all over Bermuda who put out food for them.

Juliet drops into one such station in Warwick where she disappears into the bushes to make sure the green feeding box, safe from birds and rodents, has enough supplies for the night.

?About 18 cats live here,? says Juliet. She points to a kitten which dances around our feet and doesn?t shy away when the photographer takes its picture. ?That must have been dumped here; it?s too friendly to be feral.?

She says domestic cats who are dumped by their owners quickly adapt. ?They are hunters. If you miss a feeding night you don?t worry too much because they can go and hunt. If they are forced back into nature it all clicks back into place.?

A fat older cat wanders by. Juliet wonders if she?s pregnant. Both animals will hopefully be trapped eventually and operated on.

Juliet has never received so much as a scratch in the year she?s been volunteering, thanks to the way the cats are caught. And she says most strays are timid, rather than vicious.

She?d encouraged anyone who loves animals to help with the programme ? and the bureau certainly needs more volunteers like her to trap cats, just as it relies on donations to pay for the surgery.

?I?m the main one out here doing all the trapping,? says Juliet. ?But I really enjoy it. Taking care of little animals and seeing that what has to be done for them is done ? it?s just a passion.?