Friends Fur Life

In the case of feral cats, TNR or Trap, Neuter, Release is the ONE tried and true proven method of population control.  Feral cats have proven to become a real problem in the US.  Feral cats are defined as “wild” cats, generally descendants of strays and pets that have been abandoned.  They are born wild and thus have developed a distrust of humans, making them impossible to be adopted.  They live in colonies ranging in size from just a few to an overwhelming number.  There may be the occasional “friendly,” meaning a cat that is comfortable with humans and thus would be able to live in a home.  Friendlies could be a stray that has joined a colony or just a feral with a nice disposition.

Because ferals localize in areas where there is ready food, they tend to live close to businesses and residences, places where there are plenty of people with lots of trash.  In addition, they are likely to find a couple kind-hearted souls that leave food out for the cats so they won’t starve.  Good news travels fast, and that goes double for hungry ferals!  Since they live in more populated areas, they start becoming viewed as nuisances.  People complain because the cats walk on their cars, scratching the paint, and many see them as nothing more than vermin.  This leads to the popular, yet horribly misguided notion, of Trap and Kill (TK).

People use the TK method because they are unable to look forward into the future.  Gathering up all the cats and exterminating them may solve the problem, for now.  However, give it some time, and you’ll be forced to repeat the process.  Cats are territorial animals, very turf-minded.  Once a colony has settled into an area, they generally aren’t receptive to outside cats entering their turf. 

TNR traps the cats, neuters or spays them so they can’t procreate, vaccinates them, then releases them back into the area and sets up feeding stations to manage them.  Some ferals can also be adopted out as barn cats, keeping the mouse population in check.  The cats that are in the TNR program (generally identified by having the tip of an ear clipped) are disease-free.  After that, all you have to do is keep them fed, and the population will control itself.  If you trap and kill them, that opens up your area for cats that have not been vaccinated and thus could contain any number of diseases. 

Trust me, where there is people, there is food.  Where there is food, there are feral cats.  It’s a sad inevitability in this Disposable Pet World.  In the Stafford, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, VA area alone, there are an estimated 100,000 feral cats, and that is a conservatively low estimate.  Would you rather have feral cats who have been fixed and vaccinated, or would you rather have cats who may be diseased and are breeding freely?  Trap, Neuter, Release is the only humane, viable option for handling the feral cat problem, and will be until all cats have loving, safe homes.

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