Animal Welfare Professionals

Hello~

We're in the process of streamlining our community cat program and would appreciate input from other agencies on a few common scenarios. Our goal is to make our approach as clear and consistent as possible, while recognizing that some cases require more diligence to determine whether a cat is truly lost, abandoned, or part of a community cat population.

We are utilizing both the HASS Lost/Abandoned Cat Checklist and the Cat Superhighway framework to help staff and volunteers make informed decisions in the field.

Here are a few scenarios we'd love your feedback on:

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1. Caretakers Claiming Ownership of a Neighborhood Cat
In situations where a community cat caretaker wants to claim ownership of a cat (often one they've been feeding), how do you typically handle this?
From our experience, these caretakers are often not the legal owners-and the cat may, in fact, belong to someone else in the area.

Our current policy is that cats brought in for TNR are returned ear-tipped, vaccinated, and altered, without a microchip, even if the caretaker asks to chip them.
Some volunteers and staff would like to chip the cat if a caretaker claims ownership, but we feel this goes against best practices for managing community cats.

What's your perspective on this? Do you allow microchipping in these situations?

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2. Altered Cat with No ID or Ear Tip, Brought in by a Citizen
If a healthy, altered cat with no collar, ID, or ear tip is brought in by a good Samaritan, what protocol do you follow?

Would you:
• Return to field (RTF) immediately?
• Hold for a stray hold period?
• Sedate, ear tip, and then RTF?

We're aiming to align with current best practices, minimize unnecessary shelter intake, and keep cats safely in their outdoor homes whenever appropriate.

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Thank you in advance for any insights or protocols you're willing to share!

#CommunityCatManagement

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Jessica Wiebe
Executive Director
ASAP Cats
CA
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Hi Jessica;

       Just passing along some comments:  If folks call in about a cat we recommend that they paper collar the cat for 2 weeks-in order to determine no current ownership: https://www.communitycatspodcast.com/paper-collar/

Here are some other resources:  https://www.lowellhumanesociety.org/so-you-found-a-cat/

https://www.mass.gov/doc/found-a-cat/download

My thoughts about microchipping really depends on your area and the purpose of microchipping.  If your area doesn't allow for "owned" cats to be outside then I wouldn't microchip, but if caretaker wanted to do microchipping for an extra fee at their expense I don't think I would have issue.  Having outdoor cats microchipped during the fire in Maui was very helpful and so in thinking about disasters etc.  microchipping can be very helpful. 

I always go back to the scenario of 10 cats in the back yard- we must fix all 10.   So that is where the funding goes.  If the colony caretaker is only support the fixing of 8 cats in order to pay for microchipping then that isn't helpful to the cause of reducing cat overpopulation etc.  

#1 make sure they(the trapper) have done their due deligence on determining that the cat isn't owned. They state the cat is unowned.    Since the cat is unaltered, unvaccinated, I would go ahead an TNR them and if they want to pay retail for microchipping do this as it attaches to vaccine history for the cat(in the east this saves lives due to Rabies Vaccination status).  I would also ask who are you protecting?   You are providing a service(borrowing the cat for 24 hrs)- not sure you need to know the whole story.  Multiple folks can "own" one cat- I am a 1/3 owner of a community cat.  

#2.   I would put on a paper collar/break away collar and return the cat.  I might boost the vaccines. If cat appears healthy, social and potentially owned.  They can bring the cat back after 2 weeks if they want to surrender the cat and put it in the adoption flow.  I wouldn't sedate a cat just for ear tipping. 

I hope this helps, Stacy 

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Stacy LeBaron
Head Cat
The Community Cats Podcast
Warren VT
978-239-2090
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Very long answer to your first question. Here in Portugal, our situation is different because the law is that all cats must be microchipped, including street cats.  Even if the colony caregiver asks for no chip, we have to put one in.

I can say it is really helpful! We can easily identify cats who are picked up again for treatment of injuries (sometimes quite a distance from where they were trapped and released) or cats who are found dead. The municipal kennel and I know which of us did the cats too. 

If the colony caregiver wants the chip under their name, we are happy to allow this and we don't pass on the cost, many people here cannot afford this. It costs 20-22 € and as a registered animal organisation we  receive a government rebate of 7€. We do not have access to the chip system, only vets and municipal kennels do. That's why we pay retail if done at a vet clinic. We also need the chips in order to apply for the government refunds for sterilisation.

There is an observations field on the Portuguese registration system where we ask the clinic to put the name of the street. We can also add there that our charity handled the TNR if chip isn't in our name. 

For cat name, I use their colony ID, but if the carer has a name that is also added, eg BAL-01-27 Caramelo (BAL is the village, 01 is the colony, cat no 28, Caramelo is the cat name).  The municipal TNR programme doesn't put a cat name, just 'programa CED' and puts the street in the observations field.

Occasionally we'll need to transfer a chip to someone who has decided to adopt a street cat and  take it home with them (the last two I did went to the US and Canada).  And it's nice to have those happy endings! Some vets charge 3-5€ for the transfer, some do it free - but it has to be done by an authorised vet and they have to put their legal seal sticker on the transfer form.

For TNRs, at surgery the cats are sterilised, ear tipped and chipped.  We don't vaccinate because rabies isn't an issue here. They are photographed before release (also very helpful).

For your second question: We would not ear tip if the animal comes in and goes back to the street immediately but it would not be put back without a chip. If we scan it in street and there's no chip, we leave it there. But if we have space, we hold the cat for the legal 15-day period, then chip with first triple vaccine, then offer for adoption. If we don't have space, we'd ask if the municipal kennel has room (they don't have a cattery but can hold small numbers of cats) to avoid leaving the cat in the street. Whether we hold them or not, we advertise them as  found on our social channels and a Portuguese lost & found animal site, plus inform vets and municipal kennel. 

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Bettina Vine
Animal Health Director
The Kitten Connection
Peniche, Portugal
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In our community ear tips are meant to indicate a cat is an altered unowned cat and so ear tipping is done during spay/neuter surgeries.

1. Caretakers Claiming Ownership of a Neighborhood Cat

The Kentucky Humane Society does not actively trap community cats for TNR, but our high volume spay/neuter clinics provides the surgeries for a portion of the TNR spay/neuters in our community that come through either our municipal shelter or the organization in our community that does do community cat TNR, Alley Cat Advocates.

We do offer microchipping as a service, but it is a service that can only be requested by pet owners for an owned cat spay/neuter appointment. The financial aid we offer to cover the cost of an owned pet's spay/neuter WILL NOT cover a microchip, and so even pet owners with financial aid would be expected to pay $25 to have their pet microchipped during spay/neuter.

We do not chip ANY community cats. If a client reaches out to us about needing an outdoor cat altered, we will ask if this is a community cat or an owned pet. If the client is wanting to microchip the cat, this would imply ownership of the cat and so we would direct them to our owned pet spay/neuter services rather than TNR.

Could you require those that want to microchip a community cat to show proof of ownership? Proof of ownership being limited to vet records or pet license?

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2. Altered Cat with No ID or Ear Tip, Brought in by a Citizen
In Louisville, KY, there is a 5-day stray hold policy, but for cats, it only applies if the cat has a collar/tag, microchip or is declawed. If none of these things are present, it is considered a community cat and does not have to be held for a stray hold. 

If a cat is not placed on stray hold, they would be altered ASAP. If it is a friendly cat it would go up for adoption. If it is a feral cat, it would be altered/ear tipped and re-released where the cat was found.

If a cat is held for a stray hold and no owner comes forward after the hold is up, we would move forward with altering the cat. If the cat is friendly, it is placed up for adoption. If the cat is feral, we would ear tip/alter the cat and then place the cat up for adoption in our working cat program.

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Shelby Schulz
Pet Resource Manager
Kentucky Humane Society
Louisville KY
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