Published in The Meadville Tribune (PA) on August 29, 2017
It’s no surprise that the town of Linesville has community cats, as many areas do. Implementing a Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program would address Linesville’s outdoor cat population while keeping the cats healthy and saving their lives (The Meadville Tribune, July 20).
TNR is the only humane and effective approach for community cats, also known as feral cats. Studies have shown that it stops cats from breeding, stabilizes the population, helps cats stay healthy, and improves their relationships with people. TNR is good for the cats, and good for the community.
TNR also results in fewer cats brought to animal shelters, which means fewer cats are needlessly killed. Animal control agencies get fewer calls, community morale improves, and taxpayer dollars are saved. Instead of an endless cycle of impounding cats in shelters, where virtually 100 percent of unsocialized community cats are killed, employees of animal shelters can instead focus on life-saving work such as caring for adoptable cats, which in turn leads to a reduction in illnesses caused by overcrowding.
Rounding up and killing cats is quickly becoming an outdated approach. People don’t want to see huge numbers of animals killed. According to a Harris Interactive poll, more than 80 percent of Americans believe it is more humane to leave healthy cats outside than to have her caught and killed.
Thousands of cities and counties across the U.S. conduct TNR programs, and Alley Cat Allies has tracked more than 650 that have adopted official TNR policies and ordinances. That number continues to grow because of the success of these programs.
Alley Cat Allies is the world’s leading cat advocacy organization. We’ve helped hundreds of communities establish TNR policies, and would be happy to help the town of Linesville.
BECKY ROBINSON
Bethesda, Md.