Animal Welfare Professionals

While there has been an increased awareness to reduce the number of unwanted domestic cats and dogs through public campaigns such as the "adopt don't shop" movement , there seems to be little focus on one of the remaining area of cruelty which is feral cat colonies.  In many neighborhoods, concerned citizens leave out food but do nothing to treat disease, injuries, and predation of feral cats.

While there is some controversy about Trap, Neuter, Release programs that target feral colonies, the reality is that these cats have no options for them to be removed from the street and placed in homes, due to the sheer volume of domestic kittens available to the public.   Our Neighborhood Pet Project believes that a two part TNR strategy of trapping and altering adults along with trapping kittens can be the best option to target this problem.  Kittens who are taken into foster care at a young age can be domesticated and adopted to homes. 

We hope more rescues are able to do this work as the benefits to communities are valuable. 

My rescue is located in South Padre Island, Texas, and faces an overwhelming feral animal problem, largely due to pet abandonment and the area's low-income status. Often, people acquire pets without the means to afford spaying or neutering, or they lack education on its importance, leading to the abandonment of pregnant animals which leads to their kittens becoming feral. Friends of Animal Rescue collaborates with Animal Control and community members to intake these cats for medical care before re-releasing them. We are fortunate to have individuals willing to reintroduce the animals onto their property or incorporate them into their existing colonies once they are ready for release.

Occasionally, we are fortunate enough to have a soon-to-be mother cat brought to us. Late last year, a feral cat pregnant with her third litter was brought in. Her kittens were born just hours after her arrival. She had four healthy kittens, which we successfully socialized, vetted, and adopted to loving homes. After being spayed and vaccinated, she was returned to her community. We've also seen an influx of large male cats recently and positive FIV/FeLV cases as they tend to fight and share bowls that well-meaning residents put out for them.

The importance of TNR programs is continually reinforced for me, particularly when dealing with sick and injured animals. 

While there has been an increased awareness to reduce the number of unwanted domestic cats and dogs through public campaigns such as the "adopt don't shop" movement , there seems to be little focus on one of the remaining area of cruelty which is feral cat colonies.  In many neighborhoods, concerned citizens leave out food but do nothing to treat disease, injuries, and predation of feral cats.

While there is some controversy about Trap, Neuter, Release programs that target feral colonies, the reality is that these cats have no options for them to be removed from the street and placed in homes, due to the sheer volume of domestic kittens available to the public.   Our Neighborhood Pet Project believes that a two part TNR strategy of trapping and altering adults along with trapping kittens can be the best option to target this problem.  Kittens who are taken into foster care at a young age can be domesticated and adopted to homes. 

We hope more rescues are able to do this work as the benefits to communities are valuable. 

While there has been an increased awareness to reduce the number of unwanted domestic cats and dogs through public campaigns such as the "adopt don't shop" movement , there seems to be little focus on one of the remaining area of cruelty which is feral cat colonies.  In many neighborhoods, concerned citizens leave out food but do nothing to treat disease, injuries, and predation of feral cats.

While there is some controversy about Trap, Neuter, Release programs that target feral colonies, the reality is that these cats have no options for them to be removed from the street and placed in homes, due to the sheer volume of domestic kittens available to the public.   Our Neighborhood Pet Project believes that a two part TNR strategy of trapping and altering adults along with trapping kittens can be the best option to target this problem.  Kittens who are taken into foster care at a young age can be domesticated and adopted to homes. 

We hope more rescues are able to do this work as the benefits to communities are valuable. 

While there has been an increased awareness to reduce the number of unwanted domestic cats and dogs through public campaigns such as the "adopt don't shop" movement , there seems to be little focus on one of the remaining area of cruelty which is feral cat colonies.  In many neighborhoods, concerned citizens leave out food but do nothing to treat disease, injuries, and predation of feral cats.

While there is some controversy about Trap, Neuter, Release programs that target feral colonies, the reality is that these cats have no options for them to be removed from the street and placed in homes, due to the sheer volume of domestic kittens available to the public.   Our Neighborhood Pet Project believes that a two part TNR strategy of trapping and altering adults along with trapping kittens can be the best option to target this problem.  Kittens who are taken into foster care at a young age can be domesticated and adopted to homes. 

We hope more rescues are able to do this work as the benefits to communities are valuable. 

 A funded long term program for addressing colony cats of all sorts is on my dream wish list. No resources though. Shelter in a small town in a rural agricultural based community where unmanaged "barn" cat populations are a norm. I have not stopped pursuing options though. A starting goal for me would is to address  the colonies in town. I highly agree with the concept of sterilizing adults/ trapping kittens. Our problem is not having the capacity to absorb the sheer number of kittens at once a single colony. An inquiry from a rural rental client just this week. 7 pregnant female and 15-20 kittens  under 3 months old. (just one site). We are in full swing of kitten season here and prioritize admissions by urgency of need. In kitten season 99% of kitten admissions are urgent cases from a variety of clients.

While there has been an increased awareness to reduce the number of unwanted domestic cats and dogs through public campaigns such as the "adopt don't shop" movement , there seems to be little focus on one of the remaining area of cruelty which is feral cat colonies.  In many neighborhoods, concerned citizens leave out food but do nothing to treat disease, injuries, and predation of feral cats.

While there is some controversy about Trap, Neuter, Release programs that target feral colonies, the reality is that these cats have no options for them to be removed from the street and placed in homes, due to the sheer volume of domestic kittens available to the public.   Our Neighborhood Pet Project believes that a two part TNR strategy of trapping and altering adults along with trapping kittens can be the best option to target this problem.  Kittens who are taken into foster care at a young age can be domesticated and adopted to homes. 

We hope more rescues are able to do this work as the benefits to communities are valuable. 

While there has been an increased awareness to reduce the number of unwanted domestic cats and dogs through public campaigns such as the "adopt don't shop" movement , there seems to be little focus on one of the remaining area of cruelty which is feral cat colonies.  In many neighborhoods, concerned citizens leave out food but do nothing to treat disease, injuries, and predation of feral cats.

While there is some controversy about Trap, Neuter, Release programs that target feral colonies, the reality is that these cats have no options for them to be removed from the street and placed in homes, due to the sheer volume of domestic kittens available to the public.   Our Neighborhood Pet Project believes that a two part TNR strategy of trapping and altering adults along with trapping kittens can be the best option to target this problem.  Kittens who are taken into foster care at a young age can be domesticated and adopted to homes. 

We hope more rescues are able to do this work as the benefits to communities are valuable. 

While there has been an increased awareness to reduce the number of unwanted domestic cats and dogs through public campaigns such as the "adopt don't shop" movement , there seems to be little focus on one of the remaining area of cruelty which is feral cat colonies.  In many neighborhoods, concerned citizens leave out food but do nothing to treat disease, injuries, and predation of feral cats.

While there is some controversy about Trap, Neuter, Release programs that target feral colonies, the reality is that these cats have no options for them to be removed from the street and placed in homes, due to the sheer volume of domestic kittens available to the public.   Our Neighborhood Pet Project believes that a two part TNR strategy of trapping and altering adults along with trapping kittens can be the best option to target this problem.  Kittens who are taken into foster care at a young age can be domesticated and adopted to homes. 

We hope more rescues are able to do this work as the benefits to communities are valuable. 

Hi Lou, I am curious to know if you have considered community fostering, which engages kitten finders (sometimes the same ones as colony care-takers) with fostering until kittens are old enough for spay/neuter.

Does your focus area have a surplus of caretakers that would want kittens to be removed from the area? 

While there has been an increased awareness to reduce the number of unwanted domestic cats and dogs through public campaigns such as the "adopt don't shop" movement , there seems to be little focus on one of the remaining area of cruelty which is feral cat colonies.  In many neighborhoods, concerned citizens leave out food but do nothing to treat disease, injuries, and predation of feral cats.

While there is some controversy about Trap, Neuter, Release programs that target feral colonies, the reality is that these cats have no options for them to be removed from the street and placed in homes, due to the sheer volume of domestic kittens available to the public.   Our Neighborhood Pet Project believes that a two part TNR strategy of trapping and altering adults along with trapping kittens can be the best option to target this problem.  Kittens who are taken into foster care at a young age can be domesticated and adopted to homes. 

We hope more rescues are able to do this work as the benefits to communities are valuable.