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RENAE
DUNCAN
Doctor Renae Duncan is the Chair of the Department of Psychology at Murray State University.
National Feral Cat Day
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October 16th is National Feral Cat Day! So, what is a feral cat? Feral means "gone wild" - either a cat has reverted to the wild state after being lost or abandoned or it is the offspring of stray or abandoned domestic cats. Feral cats are frightened of humans and cannot be socialized. Stray cats, on the other hand, are friendly but have become homeless due to being lost or abandoned.
Contrary to what most people believe, cats are social creatures, and when homeless they most often live in colonies. These colonies are made up of multiple male and female cats and their offspring. When even the smallest amount of food is available, these colonies will grow exponentially.
Unmanaged feral cat colonies are frequent sources of complaint for animal control officers and city managers due to unneutered males fighting for mates and spraying to mark territory and females in heat yowling all day and night. In an attempt to control this unwanted behavior, many people trap feral cats and take them to their local shelter, where they are then killed. What most people are unaware of is the indisputable fact that attempts at extermination are rarely, if ever, successful at reducing the number of unowned cats. There are decades of documented proof that campaigns to catch and kill all the cats in an area do not work. Survivors breed exponentially and outsiders move in to take advantage of whatever food source exists. This is called the vacuum effect and is how the cycle of population growth always begins anew
So, if trap-and-kill programs don’t work, what is the solution to the feral cat problem? The simple answer is implementation of a Trap-Neuter-Return, or TNR program. TNR is a comprehensive management plan where all healthy strays and kittens are neutered and adopted into new homes, and all feral cats are sterilized and vaccinated, and then returned to their colonies where they are provided with long-term care. Once the cats are spayed and neutered, the obnoxious behaviors come to an end AND, most importantly, no new kittens are born into the colony. In contrast to Trap and Kill, TNR stops reproduction and gradually reduces feral cat populations. It also improves the lives of feral cats.
So, does TNR work? Just ask the folks in Cape May, New Jersey. Since implementing community-wide TNR in 2001, Animal Control has achieved an 80 percent drop in feral cat complaints.
And, in San Diego, California: In 1992, 15,525 cats were euthanized. That year, an aggressive TNR program was implemented, and by 1998, the number of animals killed each year dropped more than 45 percent, with a tax savings of almost $900,000.
And, in Newburyport, Massachusetts, 300 stray and feral cats scavenged a living on the riverfront. Once a TNR program was launched, they found that 200 of the cats and kittens were tame enough to be adopted into good homes. The remaining 100 cats were neutered and returned to the waterfront. Ten years later only 23 feral cats remain. No kittens have been born there in many years. In fact, the TNR program is so effective that there are not enough remaining feral cats to control the local rat population!
Overall, Trap-Neuter-Return is effective, humane, and costs less than Trap and Kill – it is a proven plan that just makes good sense.
For information on how to start a TNR program in your community, go to the Alley Cat Allies web page at www.alleycat.org or contact the Humane Society of Calloway County at 270-759-1884.
*Material cited in this commentary comes from:
Alley Cat Allies
7920 Norfolk Avenue
Suite 600
Bethesda, MD 20814-2525
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