A Humane Way to Curb MorningSide’s Feral Cat Population

The new MorningSide TNR Committee (Trap Neuter Return) will be catching stray cats in our neighborhood and seeking volunteers willing to be trained to help. Like many communities, there are too many cats, especially cats that live outside and are considered community cats or “feral.” Feral kitties have had no human contact, don’t wish to have any, and have always lived outside. When the kittens are caught early enough, they can be socialized in foster homes and adopted out. But these once feral kittens take homes away from all the other social cats and kittens already in shelters that need homes too.

Ferals are considered unadoptable and if taken to a shelter, they are euthanized. There are approximately 60 million ferals in the United States. TNR seeks to reduce the number of community cats while increasing their quality of life. After a community cat has been spayed or neutered and vaccinated, it is returned to the original colony where it can live out a full, healthy, non-reproductive life. TNR is endorsed by the American Veterinary Medical Association. TNR is the least costly as well as the most efficient and humane way of stabilizing and ultimately reducing the feral cat population.

Certainly, people could instead choose to kill the cats, but it is far more expensive and does not work. Cats are territorial animals; when they are removed from the colony, new ones move in and breed to capacity. So, simply put, if you remove the cats, more will move in.

TNR stops the cycle of reproduction. The San Diego Department of Animal Control showed a decrease of almost 50% in the number of cats intake after starting a TNR program. Spay/neuter reduces undesirable behaviors, such as yowling, fighting and spraying, which also reduces the number of complaint calls made to animal control and the number of healthy feral cats euthanized.

MorningSide’s TNR Program will be operated in collaboration with All About Animals Rescue, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, founded in 2005, dedicated to ending pet homelessness, suffering and unnecessary euthanasia. All About Animals Rescue will provide the necessary training to volunteers and will receive the cats and kittens that are caught. If you know of a stray cat you’re concerned about or want to volunteer, please contact Charon Nogues at charon.nogues.rad.estate@gmail.com or Andrew (AJ) White at andrewwhite007@yahoo.com.