How To Save Feral Cats and Stop Overpopulation With TNR
Millions of feral cats are killed in shelters every year in the United States. TNR (trap-neuter-return) is a program that is practiced throughout the world to save these cats, allowing them to live out their lives -- not killed because they're considered homeless. Here you'll learn all about feral cats and the TNR program; what feral means; how they live; the arguments for and against TNR porgrams. You'll also find links to rescue organizations, materials on TNR and how you can start or join exisitng TNR programs.
This lens is dedicated to Tara -- the little cat shown here -- a feral cat that stole our hearts. I'll share with you Tara's story. Check out the wonderful pictures I have of her and other feral cats I've met and come back as I'll add more. I'll also include links to organizations and resource materials on both sides of the issue.
I am 100 percent for TNR, however, I'll give you the arguments from both sides of the issue so you can make up your own mind.
P.S. The term neutered is used for both males and females, although the term spay is usually used for females.
If you love cats and want more information about anything from behavior modification to breeds, ear mites to ticks or anything to do with cats, check out my other Squidoo lenses and website More Cats for aritcles on all things about cats.
Are You For or Against TNR?
Please take this poll to let me know what you think of TNR BEFORE reading this lens. Please take the poll at the end, (before the guest book). It will tell me how effective this lens is and what additional information to add. Thank you!
Beautiful Pictures Of Feral Cats on Flickr
As Up Close And Personal As A Feral Cat Gets
Here are pictures of feral cats found on campuses and other locations. They look like any other domestic cat, however, they do not trust people. And, heck, it's hard to blame them! Please vote for your favorites. Add any other pictures of feral cats. And come back to see more and vote.
What Is TNR?
TNR stands for Trap, Neuter and Return. It refers to using humane traps to trap feral cats, taking them to a shelter or mobile facilty and having them neutered (sterilized) and vaccinated. After they have been neutered, the cat is returned to their home (where they were trapped).
Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) method, in which entire colonies of cats are trapped, vaccinated, and sterilized by a veterinarian works extremely well to curb the numbers of unwanted, feral cats.
The right ear of the feral cat is eartipped (cut off) so that you can know which has already been neutered so if they wind up in another trap they can be released immediately.
Homes are found for young kittens, who can be tamed. Healthy adults are returned outdoors, where volunteers feed and look after them for the remainder of their lives.
Simply put, TNR is the most humane and cost effective way to control the feral cat population.
If You Buy Anything From This Lens...
... you'll automatically be making a donation to save feral cats because all money made by this lens is being donated to save Feral Cats in memory of Tara.Doesn't that feel good?
Be sure to tell your friends about feral cats, and send them here (www.squidoo.com/saveferalcats) so they can learn first hand about Tara and her brothers and sisters. Thank you and purrs, Frankie
Why TNR Is the Best Answer
Why TNR Is The Best Answer
For Feral Cats
#1
TNR is the humane, allowing feral cats to live out their lives like the wild animals they are without the worry of reproducing.
3 points
#2
If feral cats are killed, other ferals move in to take their place
2 points
#3
A vacinnated, sterilized cat poses no rabies threat to humans.
The most common carriers of rabies are raccoons, skunks, and bats.2 points
#4
TNR immediately stabilizes the size of the colony by eliminating new litters.
2 points
#5
The returned colony also guards its territory, preventing unneutered cats from moving in and beginning the cycle of overpopulation and problem behavior.
2 points
#6
Particularly in urban areas, the cats continue to provide natural rodent control.
2 points
#7
The average cost of neutering is $50 and the average cost of 'euthanasia' (killing) is $105.
1 point
#8
The number 1 cause of wildlife decline is loss of habitat due to human activity.
We are the cause of habitat loss, not feral cats.1 point
#9
Nuisance behavior is dramatically reduced including yowling and fighting that comes with mating activity.
1 point
#10
No longer have the odor of unneutered males spraying to mark their territory.
1 point
The No Kill Movement
The No Kill Movement:
A New Revolution
A new revolution that is transforming the world is here: The No Kill Movement is replacing the outdated notion that if animals are in our way -- or are homeless -- we should kill them.
The old model is still being practiced by many so-called humane societies and shelters. Even many that claim to be no-kill facilities. Most, if they look like they are going to run out of room, they kill to get back down to whatever their arbitrary numbers are. Or, they have "shelf-life" rules. For instance if a cat or dog is not adopted in 30 days of capture then they are euthanized.
The good ones, those run by people who are out to save every single animal they can, go the extra mile to find homes for the animals.
6 Ways Shelters Can Reduce Killing Cats and Dogs
1. TNR education for the public
2. Run TNR programs along with volunteers
3. Spay/Neuter eduction -- Start with the kids
4. Spay/Neuter programs -- low-cost and free
5. Join with rescue groups to find homes
6. Educate people to keep cats indoors
Declaration of the No Kill Movement in the US.
An exerpt: "This year, some five million dogs and cats will be killed in shelters. The vast majority can and should be placed into loving homes or should never enter shelters in the first place. But there is hope.
No Kill sheltering models, based on innovative, non-lethal programs and services, have already saved the lives of tens of thousands of animals. But instead of embracing No Kill, many shelters-and their national agency allies-cling to their failed models of the past, models that result in the killing of millions of dogs and cats in U.S. shelters every year."
Click here to view the compelete and more on this movement No Kill Center.
The Saving Of A Feral Cat
Tara's Story
Tara The Terrified: PART 1
My Experience Socializing Feral Kittens
Tara in her cage sitting on Hawk
I have been doing foster care for the local humane society since 2000. In 2001, I was asked to try to socialize a litter of 3. They were about 2-1/2 months old and had been living in a barn with all feral cats.
Everyone had their fingers crossed because socialization (getting kittens used to people) must begin as soon as possible after birth. The moms with litters that I've foster have allowed me to handle their kittens within a day of delivery. I even had one mother who I had to help with her delivery. In between the 3 births, she would lay beside me with her head on my lap and purr. It was an amazing show of trust.
Anyway, kittens need to be touch and handled for at least 20 minutes a day before they are 2 weeks old. If the mother is socialized, the kittens are easy to socialize even if they are a little older. However, if you get kittens after 2 weeks old, mother or not, I have found that they will hiss and haunch up, some even spit. But, I just persist and they've all come around.
Tara The Terrified
The smallest female of the litter, was terrified and spend the first 12 hours howling and pacing the cage -- almost nonstop. The other female and male kitten did better but needed more socializing than a 2 person household can give. Anyway, eventually they went back to the shelter and were returned to be barn cats (vaccinated and neutered) in exchange for 2 younger ferals we could socialize.
Tara the Terrible
Tara was also returned to the shelter, however, she would not let anyone near her. She'd hiss, spit and even growl. No one could feed her. In fact everyone was afraid to go near her.
The shelter called me, asked if I wanted to adopt her. I could adopt her for free, however, if I did not adopt her, because of space constraints, she would have would be turned over to the County's shelter and since she was feral, they would kill her.
Continued in Tara The Terrified: PART 2 below.
"Shelters will kill 5 million dogs and cats this year."
Tara The Terrified: PART 2
Adding A Feral Kitten To Our Family
Tara sharing a bed with Bruce "Kamikaze" Lee
The question was would I adopt Tara. My immediate answer was, "I'll be right over to pick her up." I then got off the phone and turned to my husband and told him the situation and bless his warm, big heart, he said, "Let's go get her."
We got to the shelter we found her in the Isolation room where they put cats until they have a condo they can put the cat in. The shelter was absolutely packed because it was kitty season.
The shelter manager said, "I'll stay out of site. She hates me." My husband and I walked into the room and talked to Tara. She didn't make a sound just sat looking at us intently.
We talked to her softly telling her we were taking her back home as we opened the cage door and carefully held the cat carrier in front of the door. Tara literally lunged into the cage without a peep astounding the shelter manager.
Tara Joins The Family PART 3 coming soon...
Tara The Terrfied: PART 3
Tara letting me pet her from a "safe" distance"
As you can see from this picture, Tara allowed us to become family but at a distance. Look closely at the picture and you can see that she is about to flee. We could only pet her if we stood perfectly still and talked to her softly.
Anyway, I'm a little ahead of my story. We brought Tara home and set the carrier on the kitchen floor. When we opened the door she literally bolted. What she did next was amazing. She went up to each cat and talked to them. We'd never see her so talkative.
In fact, not only did she talk to each cat (6 of them) but every piece of furniture and every object in the whole house. She did this for 2 hours, non-stop. She just walked from object to object and talked to them. It was like she wanted everyone to know what she'd been through.
After 2 hours, she curled up on the living room floor and bathed herself. Lee, her soul mate, joined her and curled up around her. And we knew we had made the right decision.
She only allowed us to touch her every now and again. But she bonded with all her brothers and sisters. All of them loved her, especially Lee. They were almost always together.
When Tara had lived with us for 4 years, she started hiding. We would spend hours trying to find her. How she could find a place to hide in a 1-bedroom, 1-bath house was a mystery. But we knew something was wrong because cats hide when they are sick or injured. Unlike our other cats, she would not let us pick her up and there was no way to get her into another carrier.
In order to get her to the vets office, we had to borrow a humane trap and trick her into it. We managed, but it was an horrendous ordeal.
We took her to the vet, who tranquilized her through the cage. When she called us later, it was with the sad news that Tara had several breast cancers and that her lungs were compromised. She did not think she would survive being revived. It was heartbreaking for us to let her go and Lee spent a lot of time looking for his soul mate.
She was a very special cat. She was a cat's cat. All cats loved her and she was never tamed. If we had had no other cats, I believe she would have eventually bonded with us, but we had other cats and so she was able to stay wild and yet have the safety and love of an indoor cat. We miss her dearly.
"Neuter Now
Or
Kill Later"
If 2 unaltered cats breed
2 times a year,
in just 7 years these 2 cats and their offspring can exceed 420,000 cats!
What's Next In Feral Cat Control?
When Julie Levy, a veterinarian and professor at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine in Gainesville, is asked how to permanently reduce feral cat popultions, her answer is TNR. She says we should TNR entire colonies of ferals. Have them vaccinated, sterilized by a vterinarian, then returned to their colony.
She admits that the method, though, is neither quick nor simple.
In a study conducted over an 11-year period, Levi found the cats lived an average of 7 years after being spayed and brought back to their territory. Levy says something realistic needs to be done to reduce the feral population. However, she continues, killing the cats, as many wildlife organizations have suggested, is not feasible.
New Vaccine In The Works
Levy hasn't come up with another way, yet. However, she is currently working with a wildlife research group to develop a new sterilization vaccine for both male and female cats.
"We're on the trail of a good one," she said. "We're now one year into a two-year study with male cats, and it's looking extremely promising."
When/if the vaccine is developed, trained technicians would go into the field and inject the cats. The vaccine would actually make TNR programs more efficient by helping reduce costs and labor.
3 Deadly Traps For Feral Cats
If you find cats or kittens that are feral, you may think that calling the local humane society or county animal shelter is the best thing to do. IT IS NOT! Do NOT Do Any Of These 3 Things If You find feral cats and kittens. Doing these Things will get the cats KILLED!
#1
Shelters rountinely KILL feral cats that are bought in because they are unadoptable.
0 points
#2
Animal control organizations called about feral cats will trap then then KILL them.
0 points
#3
Some shelters will loan you a trap IF you agree to return it with the cat(s), then they KILL them.
0 points
Easy Ways To Help Feral Cats
Give Feral Cats Some LoveYou know the old story of how Hobos mark the homes of nice people who feed them so other hobos know where to go? Well, I think feral cats (all cats) do the same thing -- somehow other cats KNOW I will feed them.
Here's are suggestions on how you can help these felines. They too need help surviving in this world.
Please add any additional ideas you have on how to help feral cats survive in this world.
#1
Get a humane trap and do TNR yourself.
2 points
#2
Find a cat rescue local organization that does TRN and/or barn placement.
2 points
#3
Find an organization that will pay for the neutering and vaccines.
Many non-profits offer certificates that you present at a vet's office that will cover most of the fee of TNR and/or vaccinations.1 point
#4
Find out if they are really feral or just wary of strangers.
Most of the time, you'll know if the cat is feral. However some cats are more wary than others (for a good reason). So, call on neighbors to see if the cat you are feeding belongs to them.0 points
#5
Socialize the kittens so they can get homes.
0 points
Tara - Trying To Get Some Sleep Without Letting Down her Guard
Tara half asleep
Organizations For TNR
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its' animals are treated." (Ghandi)
Steve Wozniak of Apple Fame Help To Save Feral Cats
Check Out This Video He Helped Produce
Steve Wozniak Saves Feral Cats
I worked at Apple Computer for 7 years, but Steve had already left the company. However, I always heard great things about him. Then I had the pleasure of meeting him some years later at an education trade show. He was short, very short - LOL - and he was the most marvelous person. He was really interested in helping this world. I'm thrilled to see him taking care of feral cats.You can read the article announcing this video and his work with feral cats by clicking Feral cats/Steve Wozniak. One population of feral cats is down to 1 or 2 cats! TNR really can and does work if people just do their parts.
Steve Wozniak and HSSV - Cats Without a Home
If you would like to purchase the entire 30 minute documentary go to www.catswithoutahome.com This 30-minute documentary powerfully weaves the plight of homeless cats in Santa Clara County by following six individuals who are committed to reducing the unnecessary euthanasia of homeless cats. The filmmakers introduce viewers to the secret world of homeless cats and bring to light the painful reality shelter workers and the community endure when a homeless cat not suitable for adoption is euthanized. All proceeds go directly to Humane Society Silicon Valley to help the shelter animals.
Runtime: 3:20
13376 views
10 Comments:
Organizations FOR TNR
#1
Alley Cat Allies
dedicated to changing ineffective animal control practices like trap and remove, and to providing resources for the thousands of caring individuals an...4 points
#2
ASPCA: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
ASPCA: American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The ASPCA was founded in 1866 as the first humane organization in the Western Hemisp...3 points
#3
Pet, Dog, & Cat Adoptions-Pennsylvania Pets - Pet Shelters, Dogs, Cats, Horses, Birds
List of Pennsylvania Pet Rescue and shelters that support TNR.1 point
#4
Animal Welfare Federation of Connecticut (AWFCT) is a state-wide non-profit coalition of animal shelters, rescue organizations & professionals, and animal advocates.
Animal Welfare Federation to host Intensive TNR Training Workshop at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain on Sept. 14-15, during 2007 s...1 point
#5
http://www.all-creatures.org/ak/feral-tnr.html
Animal Kind is dedicated to the non-proliferation of unwanted animals, the protection and welfare of abandoned, feral and stray cats, and humanely red...1 point
#6
Animal Concerns Community - Spay
Rescue, rehabilitation and adoption for homeless canines. Also offer lifetime care ... A volunteer organization that works on TNR for Coryell County,...1 point
#7
FCP Partnerships with Rescue Organizations, Grass Roots Rescuers, Animal Control
The Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Project fosters partnerships with local rescue organizations, grass roots rescuers and our County Animal Care and Control ag...0 points
More Organizations FOR TNR
#1
Best Friends Animal Society - About Best Friends
Best Friends Animal Society runs the nation's largest sanctuary for abused and abandoned animals. Best Friends operates a low-cost spay/neuter program...5 points
#2
Humanity For Cats/TNR
Feral kittens can be TNR at the cat rate or removed at the cat rate. Removing a feral kitten is more difficult than removing a feral cat. ...2 points
#3
Solano Ferals
To improve the lives of feral and homeless cats living in Solano County by humanely stopping their breeding through Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR). ...1 point
#4
Feral Cat Network: Dispelling The Myths
In a TNR program, a feral cat colony caretaker, who is usually a volunteer ... Regardless, feral cat TNR programs routinely immunize cats against rabi...1 point
#5
Noah's Ark Sanctuary - Feral Cats - TNR - Trap Neuter Release
Did you know that one pair of breeding cats, with all of their offspring, will generate 420000 kittens in just six years and two breeding dogs with th...1 point
#6
Operation Cat Nap - Auburn University's Trap-Neuter-Return Program
This organization is dedicated to the welfare of feral cats and kittens, and they offer TNR services, as well as taming and adoption of young kittens...1 point
#7
Feral Cat Program Fights Pet Overpopulation (CummingHome-Cumming ...
TNR is based on perpetual colony maintenance. Cats are prolific breeders but nowhere can they reproduce to the magnitude of 420000. ...1 point
#8
The Animal Spirit: Feral Cat Network
Feral Cat Network will provide information regarding feral cat rescue, including Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) and feral cat colonies. ...1 point
#9
TLC Newsletter Spring 2001
RENTSCHLER BARN CATS TNR'D Rentschler Farm on Michigan Avenue just east of downtown Saline is a historic farm owned by the City of Saline and operated...1 point
Organizations Against TNR
Organizations AGAINST TNR
These are all that I've found so far. Add some if you know of them. Thank you.
#1
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA): The animal rights organization
PETA's animal rights campaigns include ending fur and leather use meat and dairy consumption fishing hunting trapping factory farming circuses bull fi...1 point
PETA Argument and My Rebuttal
"We have seen firsthand-and we receive countless similar reports-that cats suffer and die gruesome deaths because they are abandoned to fend for themselves outdoors. Many were in "managed" colonies, which usually means that they were fed. Having witnessed the painful deaths of countless feral cats instead of seeing them drift quietly "to sleep" in their old age, we cannot in good conscience advocate trapping, altering, and releasing as a humane way to deal with overpopulation and homelessness."
My Rebuttal
All wild animals face the possibility of catching diseases or getting hurt and facing painful deaths. To kill ALL feral cats because a few of them die painful deaths is like killing all lions, tigers and bears because some will be die this same way. Sorry, not on my watch. I won't advocate killing ferals cats (or any other animal) for this reason. Heck, how do we know which cats will die painful deaths? And, before they died, how many years of freedom did they live? And, who is going to play God?
Some Bird Enthusiasts: An Argument and My Rebuttal
""You're trading a feral cat, an exotic animal that doesn't belong naturally on the landscape, against piping plovers, which evolved as natural fits in that environment," reasons Holmes Rolston III, a Colorado State University professor who is considered one of the deans of American environmental philosophy. "And it trades an endangered species, piping plovers, against cats, which as a species are in no danger whatsoever. Suffering - the pain of the cat versus the pain of the plover eaten by the cat - is irrelevant in this case."
My Rebuttal
Yes, birds are being killed by cats. But killing cats is not the answer, People caused the problem with the overpopulation of cats. We just can't kill every feral cat just because "stupid and uncaring" people abandoned cats and they became wild.
I am 100% for TNR, however, that is only step 1. We also need to (2) educate people about spay/neuter (3) punish people who throw away cats like pieces of garbage (4) relocate feral cat colonies that are near endangered birds, and (5) allow caregivers to take care of the feral cat colonies with TNR, feeding, and medical care -- people ARE willing to do that. Let them. It has been proven in tests all over the country that just killing cats does NOT stop the probem but TNR does by controlling birth rates.
Let's stop looking at all of our problems as "kill them" and work together to "save them" -- both feral cats AND birds. There's enough killing going on in the world.