Ya know that old saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”? Well, that’s what TNR (Trap-Neuter/Spay-Return) programs are about.
I began doing TNR because I’ve seen too many young cats die from painful diseases or from lack of food. It seems much more humane and effective to prevent feline pregnancies than to try to find homes for the kittens who survive their first few weeks. My TNR effort happens around El Missiano Del Gato.
In a nutshell, TNR programs help feral, stray, and community cats by trapping them, getting them fixed, then returning them to the spot where they were trapped so they can can re-join their existing community of cats.
Lots of communities in the US have official, organized programs to help with this effort. Olympia is not one of those communities. (Yet.) Instead, there are many individuals doing their best to slow population growth among the population of unowned cats.
Sara, one of the people in the Tumwater-Olympia-Lacey area doing TNR, is holding a workshop to teach folks how to trap, transport, provide recovery support, and release the cats they want to help. She’ll also cover what supplies and equipment you’ll need and local resources that are useful.
If you’re on Facebook, you can find more info on the event page: www.facebook.com/events/1477196899201549/
If you can’t make it to this event but you want to know how you can help spay and neuter local feral cats, please contact Sara using the email and phone number on the flyer to the right.
Local TNR resources
The Northwest Spay & Neuter Center in Tacoma offers a FREE shuttle for feral cats from Thurston County who will be fixed at their FREE (for ferals) Spay & Neuter clinic!
Select sources
To learn more about TNR and feral cats, check out these online resources:
- Alley Cat Allies. Conduct trap-neuter-return guide. 25 Sept 2014. http://www.alleycat.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=889.
- American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. “Feral and community cats”. ASPCAPro. http://www.aspcapro.org/feral.
- Community Cat Coalition. 27 Sept 2014. http://communitycatcoalitionwa.org.
- Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon. 27 Sept 2014. http://www.feralcats.com.
- Neighborhood Cats. How to. 25 Sept 2014. http://www.neighborhoodcats.org/OVERVIEW_HOW_TO.
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