Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) Program

NEW! Watch the first meeting of the Wyoming TNR initiative - click here!

TNR reduces free-roaming cat populations through two means – first, by the removal of adoptable cats, and, second, through attrition outpacing births over time.

SCSCR aims to fund a program that would provide free spay and neuter services, as well as rabies vaccines, to any feral cat in Sheridan County. SCSCR will provide traps and assist land owners in trapping and subsequently releasing the cats back into their habitat.

According to research, “Managed colonies of feral cats can be part of the solution to nuisance complaints.” One animal control agency in Florida found complaints in a six-square block area dropped by half after implementation of a TNR program. In the city of Cape May, New Jersey, complaints to animal control about cats dropped by 50 percent after four years of sanctioned TNR. After funding and running its own TNR program, the Animal Services Department of Orange County, Florida, also reported decreased complaints about cats.

Trap-and-kill has been the traditional approach of animal control in the United States towards free-roaming cats for decades. It should be enough to conclusively establish the complete failure of this method by pointing out that the current estimates of the number of feral cats in this country now run into the tens of millions. Trying to remove the cats doesn’t work to lower their numbers. It’s a clumsy, simplistic technique that completely fails to take into account critical environmental factors and feral cat population dynamics. Trap-and-kill results in nothing but turnover – new feline faces, but not fewer. There are a number of reasons for this, including (a) the “vacuum effect,” (b) over-breeding by un-trapped cats, (c) abandonment of domestic cats and, (d) lack of animal control resources.

A full report of TNR will be available on this page in the near future.

 

If you would like to donate to the TNR program, please click here.