TRAP/NEUTER/RETURN

Community Cats Need Our Community's Help

Outdoor, free-roaming community cats can be lost or abandoned pets that are friendly or cats born outside that are not socialized to humans (sometimes referred to as "feral" cats). Because they do not have owners, they need our community's help.

Together, we can get these cats sterilized and vaccinated to prevent their population from growing larger, to improve the quality of their lives, and to reduce or eliminate nuisance behaviors such as spraying, yowling and excessive noisemaking, and fighting.

We provide spay/neuter surgery and vaccinations to community cats for FREE. We need your help in trapping these cats, bringing them to the clinic for surgery and vaccines, and releasing them back to their outdoor homes. We loan out humane traps to catch them in for a $50 cash deposit you get back when you return the trap.

Catching and killing the cats does not work – when cats are removed from an area, survivors breed to capacity or new cats move in. This is known as the “vacuum effect" and has been well-documented. Download Fact Sheet

*Vacuum Effect Fact Sheet provided by Alley Cat Allies

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What is TNR?

Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) is the most humane and effective method available to stop the overpopulation of community cats and to stop kittens from being born outside just to die a terrible death from disease, exposure or parasites.

HOW IT WORKS:

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TRAP

  • A community cat colony ( group of cats living outside together) is identified and targeted.
  • The cats in the colony are trapped utilizing a humane, live-release trap.
  • We rent traps for a $50 cash deposit, which you get back when the trap is returned.

    • For more information on TNR and a guide to TNR and Colony Care see Alley Cat Allies.

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NEUTER

  • The cats are transported to the clinic for spay/neuter surgery and vaccinations between 9:00 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Monday-Wednesday.
  • The cats have their left ear “tipped” - the universal sign that the cat has been sterilized. Ear-tipping is done while the cat is sedated and the procedure is swift and painless.
  • The cats recover from surgery overnight at the clinic.
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RETURN

  • The "fixed" and vaccinated cats are picked up at 7:30 a.m. the day after surgery and returned to their colony to live healthier lives.
  • Caregivers feed and care for the cat colony on an ongoing daily basis.

WINTER COMMUNITY CAT SURGERY PROTOCOL

Please do not trap outdoor cats if it is 40 degrees or below.

For their safety, we do not accept outdoor cats in traps for surgery if it is 40 degrees or below on the day you trap OR if it is forecasted to be 40 degrees or below during the week after trapping (the surgery recovery period).

The only exception is if you have a safe, heated environment in which the cat can recover for 7 days after surgery, where it will have access to food and water (i.e., a temperature-controlled garage, barn, basement, etc.).

We take the safety of all pets we see very seriously. If cats with shaved bellies recovering from surgery are put back outside in frigid temperatures, they can die of hypothermia or other complications.

Thank you for helping community cats!