Furkids is excited to launch our Community Cat Program, dedicated to providing Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) assistance and community support for owned pets.
Community cats are free-roaming cats who can be feral from a lack of human interaction. Prior to successful TNR programs in Atlanta, community cats were routinely picked up, taken to county shelters and euthanized. Now, thanks to TNR, cats are trapped, neutered, vaccinated, ear-tipped (to identify them as neutered) and returned back to their neighborhoods.
What is TNR?
Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) is the humane and effective approach to reduce the overpopulation of stray and feral cats – collectively known as Community Cats. The cats are humanely trapped and taken to a veterinarian to be spayed or neutered and vaccinated. After they have recovered from surgery, the cats are returned back to their original territory where a caretaker provides regular food and shelter. Since the cats can no longer reproduce, the colony size declines.
Spaying and neutering also greatly reduce nuisance behavior, such as the fighting and yowling associated with mating. The odor caused by unaltered males spraying to mark territory disappears. Another benefit of TNR is that the cats' continued presence maintains rodent control.
For many years, traditional animal control sought to decrease animal populations by a trap-and-kill method. However, research and time have shown that the trap-and-kill method is ineffective, whereas TNR reduces the population and keeps cats out of shelters. Fortunately, TNR also enjoys widespread community support. Research shows that most people would prefer to control the cat population through humane, non-lethal means than by killing healthy animals.
WHY TNR
TNR is the only effective method to humanely and dramatically decrease the number of cats. Trapping and removing the cats doesn’t work because new cats will move into the area and breed up to capacity. This is well-documented and called the “vacuum effect.”
Additionally, relocating cats to a different area is animal abandonment, which falls under animal cruelty crimes in the state of Georgia. Less than 50% of relocated cats survive because they don’t know the dangers in the area and succumb to predators, car tires, starvation, etc.
How We Can Help
The Furkids Community Cat Program assists neighborhoods by:
- Loaning traps and providing trapping instructions for community cats
- Providing education to caretakers and the public about proper cat colony management
- Providing low-cost and free spay/neuter services at Furkids Spay & Neuter Clinics as well as through partner veterinarians for community cats of qualified caretakers and families
Our Community Cat Program is a resource, not a rescue. We provide the tools to help you humanely manage the cats.
DONATE
To perform such a large volume of spay/neuter surgeries and provide community cats with the medical care they need, we rely on generous donations from our community.
Please consider making a donation today!
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