Animal Welfare Professionals

What are your community cat diversion program qualifications?

I'm curious about this. While many communities have (thankfully) embraced community cat diversion, I see quite a bit of variation in its implementation. I'm curious to hear how your organization handles things, specifically regarding:

• Age group -- Is there an age "cut off" -- below or above which cats don't qualify
• Behavior -- Are all cats eligible?
  • Friendly cats
  • Shy cats?
  • Cats who are somewhat social with humans
  • Cats who aren't socialized to people at all?
• Caretakers -- Does your program require anything specific with regard to there being a caretaker involved?
• Location -- How specific a location do you require for returning cats -- Will an intersection suffice? Do you need to identify a specific house or apartment building that the cat is associated with?
• Anything else??

Thanks in advance for your replies!!

Simple is best!  When we started the program in Jacksonville in 2008 (a partnership between Jacksonville Animal Care & Protective Services and nonprofit spay/neuter clinic First Coast No More Homeless Pets), the qualifications were as follows: cat must be currently living outside or indoor/outdoor (meaning not someone's indoor only pet), must be old enough for sterilization (1.5-2lbs minimum) and must be otherwise healthy enough for surgery. Too many times I see shelters over-complicating the process. It should not be about behavior as there are many friendly socialized outdoor cats living in our communities (many which turn out to be cared for or loosely owned by several residents). These qualifications are still true today.

Our criteria are fairly simple, but we do evaluate each cat and circumstance individually to make the best decision for that cat.  To be eligible for consideration for return to field, the cat is:

• Free roaming outside and lacking identification
• Not declawed or severely obese
• Of a healthy weight and body condition (a good indicator that they have someone in their neighborhood feeding and caring for them) and injury-free (as determined by shelter and spay/neuter clinic veterinary staff - some minor wounds are acceptable/treated prior to return)
• Kittens under 8 weeks old do not qualify for the program. Kittens 8-12 weeks old may qualify only if a caregiver is identified. Kittens 12-16 weeks old may qualify only if there is an identified food/shelter source.  Typically kittens under 3 pounds stay at the shelter for adoption (under 2 pounds are sent to foster first to gain weight, then placed in adoption after sterilization surgery).

All cats are eligible, in terms of behavior.  If the shelter census is particularly low, very friendly free-roaming cats may stay for adoption rather than be returned.  Our program does not require a caretaker, but they are always an added bonus if identified.  I believe for location, our program aims for knowing cross streets, general neighborhood blocks, apartment complexes, etc.

Our return-to-field program has dramatically changed our feline population dynamics at the shelter.  We can now utilize resources to treat medical cases - cats and kittens with injuries/wounds, fractures, illness, etc - that never had a chance in the past due to overcrowding.  We adopt out FIV+ cats.  We have extremely minimal incidence of shelter acquired URI. Our feline welfare is drastically improved!

Whatever the specifics for qualification are, I think the guiding principle in RTF programs should be that a cat is being returned outdoors because he or she was thriving there.  Not simply that a cat originated from outdoors, but also was doing well (or at least ok).  Drift from this principle can result in both putting out cats who are not suited for an outdoor life and failing to explore other alternative live outcomes.

We are a small rescue in a community on the edge of the desert, this poses many challenges for us in terms of any RTF because of the many predators in the immediate area.  However, what we have found is some cats can not only survive, but thrive in our community if the following criteria is met.  They are either completely feral or they have a caretaker feeding them and a place of safety (barn, shed, structure) which they can get to quickly.   We are very proactive in our community and take in every single friendly, homeless kitty (no caretaker) as fast as we can.  We take in all kittens up to 3 months and place up for adoption.  We have been doing TNR in our community for over 5 years now and we are lucky enough to have solved "most" of the challenges with stray kitties.