Pets
Story tools:
Share this story:
For as long as the species we call the domestic cat (Felis catus) has existed, there have been feral cats living in colonies. Scientists estimate there may be as many or even more unowned cats in America than the 82 million owned cats.
At one time, adoption seemed an option for ferals, but it turns out to be a bad idea. Housing the generally unadoptable feral cats meant valuable cage space was being taken up while adoptable cats were being turned away or euthanized. Also, most feral cats become exceedingly stressed in shelters.
“These cats have never been socialized to people, and they’re extremely fearful,” says Becky Robinson, who had a better idea for feral cats around 20 years ago. She noticed how some European nations were dealing with their feral cat problems and imported the idea, called trap, neuter, return (TNR) to Washington, D. C.
Each cat was humanely trapped, delivered to a veterinarian for spay/neuter and to be vaccinated for rabies. The cats’ ears were notched to identify which cats were in the program. The cats were then returned to the same alley to live out their lives. Caretakers supplemented the cats with food, and identified newcomers to the colony who would also be trapped, altered and vaccinated.
“There was a huge need for a humane way to deal with feral cats; as soon as people heard we were using TNR successfully, they called wanting to know more,” says Robinson, the founder and president of Alley Cat Allies, based in Bethesda, Md. Today there are 225 organizations dedicated solely to TNR, not to mention the many shelters that offer TNR programs.
To support feral and stray cats where you live, celebrate National Feral Day todayby becoming involved. To learn more, contact Alley Cat Allies, www.alleycat.org .
Send e-mail to petworld@stevedale.tv .
Reader comments
Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment
MyBuffalo is the new social network from Buffalo.com. Your MyBuffalo account lets you comment on and rate stories at buffalonews.com. You can also head over to mybuffalo.com to share your blog posts, stories, photos, and videos with the community. Join now or learn more.
Comments have been disabled.
Due to a high volume of submissions that violate The News’ guidelines, commenting is no longer available on this story. If you’d like to share your thoughts on this story, click here to get information on contributing to The News’ opinion pages.