WHAT IS TRAP-NEUTER-RETURN (TNR)?
Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) is a program in which outdoor cats are humanely trapped, spayed or neutered, ear-tipped and returned to the location where they were found. TNR is the most humane and effective method for stabilizing and eventually reducing outdoor cat populations.
HOW TNR WORKS
- A concerned citizen humanely traps a free-roaming cat.
- The cat is taken to a veterinarian to be spayed or neutered.
- The cat is ear-tipped, while under anesthesia for their spay/neuter. Ear tipping is the universal sign that a cat has already been spayed or neutered. Ear tipping helps the trapper determine whether or not a cat they catch in a trap has already been spayed or neutered.
- Post-surgery, the cat is kept contained in a climate-controlled environment until the effects of the anesthesia have worn off.
- The cat is returned to the same location where it was trapped to live out the rest of its natural life, without breeding and contributing to the cat overpopulation crisis.
BENEFITS OF TNR
Research shows that TNR programs are the most reliable and effective method of stabilizing and reducing feral cat populations, with the lowest cost to local governments and residents. Cats that are spayed and neutered enjoy a safer and more comfortable existence free of the mating behaviors that annoy human neighbors and threaten their lives (ie: roaming, fighting, spraying, yowling, and giving birth over and over).
- TNR is non-lethal and humane
- It can improve the welfare of cats
- It can gradually reduce the cat population
- It can prevent the spread of disease
- It can prevent the birth of sick or dying kittens