What is Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR)?
TNR is the method of humanely trapping feral cats, having them spayed or neutered, vaccinated for rabies and then returning them to their colony to live out their lives. TNR also involves a colony caretaker who provides food, adequate shelter and monitors the cats' health. TNR has been shown to be the least costly as well as the most efficient and humane way of stabilizing feral cat populations.
How does tnr help feral cats?
Through TNR, feral cats can live out their lives without adding to the homeless cat population. "It is very important to have all feral cats spayed/neutered, because it is the only 100-percent effective way to prevent unwanted kittens," says Aimee Hartmann, Director of the ASPCA Mobile Clinic. "Feral cats are prolific reproducers."
Furthermore, by stabilizing the population, cats will naturally have more space, shelter and food, and fewer risks of disease. After being spayed or neutered, cats living in colonies tend to gain weight and live healthier lives. Spayed cats are less likely to develop breast cancer and will not be at risk for ovarian or uterine cancer, while neutered males will not get testicular cancer. By neutering male cats, you also reduce the risk of injury and infection, since intact males have a natural instinct to fight with other cats. Spaying also means female cats do not go into heat and therefore they attract less tom cats to the area and reduce fighting. If cats are sterilized and live in a colony that has a caretaker, their life span may reach more than ten years.
How does TNR benefit the community?
TNR helps the community by stabilizing the population of the feral colony and, over time, reducing it. At the same time, nuisance behaviors such as spraying, loud noise and fighting are largely eliminated and no more kittens are born. Yet, the benefit of natural rodent control is continued. Jesse Oldham, ASPCA's Senior Administrative Director for Community Outreach and the founder of Slope Street Cats, an organization dedicated to feral cat welfare, notes, "TNR also helps the community's animal welfare resources by reducing the number of kittens that would end up in their shelters - TNR creates more space for the cats and kittens who come to them from other avenues."
Jewel's Colony
Jewel’s Colony, is the creation of an 8 year-old that chose this for a school project. It provides a factual overview of Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR). It is used by permission of the producer’s parents.