Cook County – which includes Chicago – recently became the latest community to pass an ordinance granting formal for trap, neuter and return (TNR) programs to control stray and feral cats.  On October 16, which happens to be National Feral Cat Day, County Commissioners unanimously approved TNR.

            Trap, neuter return allows for volunteer caretakers and animal control officers to trap strays and feral cats, spay or neuter, ear notch (a veterinarian notches the tip of an ear for easy identification), vaccinate for rabies, microchip (for specific identification) and the return them to where they were trapped to begin with. Very sick cats are humanely euthanized. Young kitties and friendly once-owned cats are adopted. Caretakers then look after the outdoor cats, offering shelter and food. As any new cat enters the colony, it’s quickly spotted because there’s no ear notch. So that cat is trapped, and goes through the same process, including being spayed or neutered

            Stray and feral cats are a world wide problem. In the U.S, alone estimates range wildly, from half as many as there are owned cats (there are 88 million owned cats) to twice that number.. 

            Bryan Kortis, a TNR consultant for the Humane Society of the United States and author of “Implementing a Community Trap-Neuter-Return Program” (published by the HSUS, 2007, $9.99 from www.hsus.org) says, “We know that properly implemented TNR works.” His examples range from Newburyport, MA (they went from 300 ferals to six in a dozen years) to New York City, a program which he helped to implement, and says, “From early indications is successful.”

            Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley was the bill’s original co-sponsor (with Commissioner Joan Murphy), and comments as most citizens might, “I had heard about stray cats and know there is a problem. I relied on what the experts had suggested, and they all said the same thing. Also, I like that TNR will save the county money.”

            Communities not so enlightened continue to have animal control officers attempt to eradicate stray and feral cats by trapping, and then euthanizing. “It’s been the conventional way to do deal with the issue for a very long time,” says Cherie Travis, president of PACT Humane, Downers Grove, IL and an animal attorney with the DePaul University College of Law in Chicago. Obviously since the problem (of stray and feral cats) has only grown worse, this ‘solution’ has not worked. By not spending the limited resources of animal control and the cost of euthanasia, it’s a savings. Also, rabies tags (for the cats which are trapped, neutered and returned) delivers some revenue (to local government). The community is also more receptive (to TNR). Even when there are nuisance calls about stray and feral cats, most people in the community don’t want them killed. So, historically, nothing is done. TNR is certainly more effective than nothing.”

            TNR began in the UK and in Denmark was imported to the U.S. in the late 1960’s, according to Becky Robinson, president of Alley Cat Allies – a not-for-profit national group based in Washington D.C. which supports TNR caretakers and communities seeking to deal with stray and feral cats using TNR.  The TNR approach didn’t really take off until the 1990’s as researchers learned the concept really does work to help reduce numbers, sometimes quite dramatically, but often more gradually.

            Kortis is the first to admit that strays and ferals are a problem. Cats spray and yowl and have cat fights in the night. And there’s the possibility to spreading rabies, a serious public health risk.

            “The yowling, fighting and spraying is greatly related to mating,” says Meg Martino of the Chicago Stray Cat Coalition. “Spay/neuter makes a lot this problems go away. And all are also vaccinated against rabies.”

            However, the biggest complaint of all is that stray and feral cats kill songbirds and other wildlife.

            “I’m not denying that cats kill occasional birds, squirrels, whatever they can catch  – we know that’s true,” adds Martino. “But if they’re spayed/neutered, they generally stay closer to where their caretaker is. And they’re also simply not as hungry and not as motivated to go after difficult to kill prey.”

            “TNR is the only choice I’ve seen that makes sense,” adds Dave DeFuniak, executive director of Tree House Animal Foundation, cat-only shelter in Chicago. “No community has animal control resources to keep up with cat reproduction.”

            When animal control removes some cats from a colony (they’re rarely able to catch them all), a vacuum in the colony is created. The cats magically and rapidly have larger litters to fill the void. “There’s no way to stay ahead of that,” DeFuniak says.

            “When communities like Chicago and New York participate in TNR, my hope is that others all over the nation, and even animal control officers will understand that this is our best solution for achieving a mutual goal,” says Robinson.

            David Dinger, vice president operations of the Anti Cruelty Society of Chicago is elated about how TNR is overall making a difference across the country, “Millions of cats are out there,” he says. “If we do nothing, there will be millions more. Euthanizing as we’ve traditionally done just doesn’t work. I’m optimistic that TNR is a solution not only for outdoor cats but also to limit the numbers of kittens which pour into shelters.”

            Should all communities support TNR? All the experts interviewed here cheer, a resounding “Yes!”

Online resources for TNR

If you’re interested in TNR – these places and links to more places will tell you all you need to know:

Alley Cat Allies – an entire website devoted to TNR

www.alleycat.org

Tree House Animal Foundation feral cat resources:

http://www.treehouseanimals.org/TNR/index.html

“Implementing a Community Trap-Neuter-Return Program” (published by the HSUS, 2007, $9.99) by Bryan Kortis:  https://gateway.hsus.org/asopubs/ItemDetail.cfm?itemID=1070&Audience=1

HSUS Resources to help feral cats:

http://www.hsus.org/pets/issues_affecting_our_pets/feral_cats/
feral_cat_resources.html

                                                                                    ©Steve Dale, Tribune Media Services