Paws has been leading the way in Adams County educating people on the community cat population. There have been many studies done on the impact of TNR and given the opportunity Paws would like to provide more to our community, more resources and transport to HOPE for animals in Fort Wayne IN. for TNR. Read here the studies that have shown and proven that TNR is the best option for community cats.
While the number of community cats in the United States is estimated to be in the tens of millions, sadly, many communities still opt to control populations using outdated, ineffective methods—including lethal elimination or relocation. Community cats who end up in shelters make up a large percentage of cats euthanized throughout the country every year. Trap-Neuter-Return-Monitor (TNRM) as the only proven humane and effective method to manage community cat colonies.
What is a Community Cat
“Community Cats” is a term used to describe outdoor, unowned, free-roaming cats. These cats could be friendly, feral, adults, kittens, healthy, sick, altered and/or unaltered. They may or may not have a caregiver. By this definition, the only outdoor free-roaming cats who are not community cats are those who have an owner.
TNRM is the method of humanely trapping community cats, having them spayed or neutered and vaccinated against rabies, and then returning them to their colony to live out their lives. TNRM also involves a colony caretaker who provides food and adequate shelter and monitors the cats' health. TNRM has been shown to be the least costly and the most humane, efficient way of stabilizing community cat populations. TNRM helps stabilize the population of community colonies and, over time, reduces them. Nuisance behaviors such as spraying, excessive noisemaking and fighting are largely eliminated and no additional kittens are born.
By stabilizing the population, cats will naturally have more space, shelter and food and fewer risks of disease. After being spayed or neutered, cats living in colonies tend to gain weight and live healthier lives. Spayed cats are less likely to develop breast cancer and will not be at risk for ovarian or uterine cancer, while neutered males will not get testicular cancer. Neutering male cats also reduces the risk of injury and infection, since intact males have a natural instinct to fight with other cats. Spaying also means female cats do not go into heat. That means they attract fewer tom cats to the area, which reduces fighting.
How to Help Community Cats and Kittens in Your Area
A community colony caretaker is an individual
(or group of individuals) who manages one or
more community colonies in a community.
The caretaker keeps an eye on the
cats—providing food, water and shelter,
spaying/neutering and emergency medical
care. Some shelters and rescue groups even
give out free or low-cost spay/neuter coupons
to colony caretakers.
What is Ear-Tipping and Why Is It Important?
Ear-tipping is a widely accepted means of marking a community cat who has been spayed or neutered. It also often identifies them as being part of a colony with a caretaker. Ear-tipping is the humane, safe surgical removal of the top quarter-inch of the left ear. The procedure is performed by a licensed veterinarian, typically during the spay/neuter surgery and rarely requires aftercare. Ear-tipping prevents an already-spayed or neutered cat the stress of re-trapping and an unnecessary surgery.
Ineffective Methods for Managing Community Cat Populations
Eradication: The deliberate and systematic destruction of a community cat colony, by whatever method, almost always leads to the “vacuum effect”—either new cats flock to the vacated area to exploit whatever food source attracted the original inhabitants, or survivors breed and their descendants are more cautious around threats. Simply put, eradication is only a temporary fix that sacrifices animals' lives unnecessarily, yet yields no positive or beneficial return.
Relocation
Many communities have rounded up colonies of community cats either for euthanasia or to relocate them to another area. Although PAWS, for the safety of the cat for many reasons has done this, this does not work. Community cats are very connected with their territory: They are familiar with its food sources and places that offer shelter, as well as resident wildlife, other cats in the area, and potential threats to their safety. Even when all community cats are removed, which is difficult to achieve, new cats will soon move in and set up camp.
Relocation is something to consider only if keeping the cats where they are becomes a threat to their lives, such as their territory being demolished and there is no adjacent space to shift them to, or if the cats' lives would be at extreme risk should they remain where they are.
Paws offers transport on Mondays to Hope for animals in Fort Wayne. We are always looking for more people to help transport as well. Please message our facebook page if you are able to help. Also looking for Farms or Country locations for some of our tnr's to locate to.
If you would like more info on the effect of tnr please visit the sites bellow.
Contact PAWS of Adams County, Indiana
P.O. Box 482 Decatur IN United States 46733