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Guest column: Trap-neuter-release offers best hope for stray cats and community

 
Becky Robinson is the president and founder of Alley Cat Allies, an advocacy organization based in Bethesda, Md., that works to protect and improve the lives of all cats.
Becky Robinson is the president and founder of Alley Cat Allies, an advocacy organization based in Bethesda, Md., that works to protect and improve the lives of all cats.
Published July 26, 2017

Several media outlets in Tampa Bay have questioned the way the community is managing its population of community cats, sometimes called feral cats. But the truth is that by following best practices in conducting trap-neuter-return for its cats, Hillsborough County is already a national leader.

In a trap-neuter-return program, community cats are humanely trapped, spayed or neutered, vaccinated, eartipped to indicate they're part of a TNR program, then returned to their outdoor home.

Rabies vaccination is a key component of the program, and it's important to point out that none of these cats would have received even one rabies vaccination without being part of a TNR program. TNR is often the No. 1 provider of rabies vaccinations in the community. In this way, it is an important contributor to public health.

To put this point into greater context, there has not been a single case of a human catching rabies from a cat anywhere in the United States since 1975. Furthermore, the number of rabies cases found among all cats as reported by Hillsborough County was less than one per year during the 10-year period ending in 2016. This does not represent a major health concern.

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TNR brings many other benefits, too. It reduces the number of community cats admitted to shelters, where virtually 100 percent of them are killed because they are unsocialized to people and unsuitable for adoption. TNR reduces calls of concern to animal control agencies so they can spend their limited resources on life-saving work, such as adoptions.

TNR saves taxpayer money, too, because it is less expensive than "euthanasia," which brings costs for boarding, drugs, and disposal of bodies. TNR also reduces costs associated with the inevitable turnover of shelter staff who become disillusioned with a job that requires so much killing of healthy animals. Even for people who may not feel strongly one way or another, this significant taxpayer savings is a compelling reason to support TNR.

In short, TNR is the only humane and effective approach to address community cat populations.

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Thousands of cities and counties conduct TNR programs, and Alley Cat Allies has tracked more than 650 of them, in addition to Hillsborough County, that have adopted official TNR policies and ordinances. That number continues to grow because of the success of these programs.

Here in Hillsborough County, the Humane Society of Tampa Bay is to be commended for conducting a trap-neuter-return program that has dramatically reduced the number of cats killed in the county. In 2005, the county was "euthanizing" 20,000 cats. By 2015, through adoption, rescue programs, and TNR, that number was down to 1,100 cats, according to local reports. The number of community cats is decreasing, and fewer kittens in need of fostering are being born.

A TNR program in Jacksonville saved $1 million, decreased cat intakes by 25 percent and decreased "euthanasia" by more than 75 percent. Employee morale, productivity, and worker's compensation claims have all benefitted, as well.

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Hundreds of communities have reported similar TNR success stories. In Albuquerque, N.M., the shelter's intake of cats dropped 24 percent, and the number of cats killed dropped 72 percent. In Arlington, Va., intake dropped 30 percent, and the number of cats killed decreased 73 percent. In San Jose, Calif., impounds decreased by 29 percent and the number of cats killed decreased to 23 percent of intakes. San Jose spent just $72 per cat for its TNR program, versus $233 per cat to impound and "euthanize" them.

And Tampa, Jacksonville, Albuquerque, Arlington and San Jose represent just a small sampling of incredibly successful programs.

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For these reasons, TNR stands well above the other methods for managing cat populations. One approach that has repeatedly failed is catching and killing outdoor cats. Decades of failed catch-and-kill policies have proven to be cruel, costly, ineffective, and unable to address public health concerns. Millions of healthy cats are killed year after year under catch-and-kill programs, yet feline populations persist.

In addition to its failures, this approach is unpopular, too. A Harris Interactive poll found that an overwhelming majority of Americans — 81 percent — believe that leaving a stray cat outside to live out his life is more humane than having the cat caught and killed.

Our morals and values have pushed America to find a better way. We need animal policies that are proven to work. TNR is better for cats, better for people and better for the community of Tampa Bay.

Becky Robinson is the president and founder of Alley Cat Allies, an advocacy organization based in Bethesda, Md., that works to protect and improve the lives of all cats. Learn more at alleycat.org.