Getting Started

Trap-Neuter-Return

Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) is the most humane and effective method known for managing unowned free-roaming cats. The cats (commonly referred to as "community cats") tend to live in groups called colonies and may be feral, friendly or anything in between. With TNR, they're trapped, spayed or neutered, vaccinated for rabies where required and eartipped to mark them as altered. After recovering from surgery, they're returned back to their territory. Caretakers provide regular food and, when it's feasible and would be in their best interests, young kittens and sociable adults are removed and placed for adoption.

Once the cats can no longer reproduce, it becomes possible for their numbers to decline over time. Spaying and neutering also dramatically reduces nuisance behaviors like the fighting and yowling associated with mating or the foul odor of intact toms marking their territory. Altered cats roam less, making them less visible though their continued presence maintains rodent control. After being fixed and vaccinated, the cats are healthier and less likely to contract and transmit disease.

For decades in the United States, the common practice was to trap community cats and, if they were feral or the local shelter was out of space, euthanize them. This approach failed to stem overpopulation and reduce the flow of cats and kittens into shelters. Other methods have also proven ineffective, including feeding bans or other laws intended to decrease the amount of free-roaming cats, like licensing, pet limits or leash laws. In contrast, the ever-growing number of communities with robust TNR programs consistently see substantial reductions in shelter intake and euthanasia as well as fewer cat-related complaints.

Because it is life-affirming, TNR speaks to people's sense of compassion and attracts volunteers, funding and community support. As the animal welfare field gains more experience with Trap-Neuter-Return, we're learning how best to implement it, including achieving high sterilization rates in targeted colonies and neighborhoods, and fixing pet cats who are most at risk of abandonment and having litters because their owners cannot afford spay/neuter. TNR works on the policy level and, for those who care about the cats, on a personal level, too. Its time has come.