WHY FERAL CATS DON’T BELONG IN SHELTERS
National Feral Cat Day, October 16, is a great time to get smart about outdoor cats and why they need a different kind of care.
By Becky Robinson,
President, Alley Cat Allies - www.alleycat.org
What is your usual reaction when you come across an outdoor cat? Is your instinct to call the local shelter or animal control to find her a home?
Chances are, the cat you’ve come across is not homeless at all, but lives quite happily outdoors. Feral cats are domestic cats, but they have no desire to snuggle with you on your couch.
Feral cats live healthy, natural lives within groups called colonies – and have never been socialized to people. They aren’t adoptable, and they don’t belong in shelters. That’s because in our current animal control system, the only happy ending for animals is adoption.
So what happens to animals who aren’t candidates for adoption?
In today’s system, animals who are not placed in homes are killed.
Feral cats live outside, but are killed in pounds and shelters. So think twice before you call your local animal control. Instead, find out if your community supports Trap-Neuter-Return.
Trap-Neuter-Return is a humane approach for feral cats. Through this program, outdoor cats are painlessly trapped, brought to a veterinarian to be evaluated, spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and eartipped. Cats who are friendly to humans and kittens are adopted into homes. Healthy adult feral cats are returned to their outdoor home.
If your community doesn’t have a Trap-Neuter-Return program, organize one! Visit www.alleycat.org to find out how you can help change shelter policies that don’t address the needs of outdoor cats.
You can join Alley Cat Allies – the national advocate for stray and feral cats – and mark this year’s National Feral Cat Day by pledging to be an “Alley Cat Ally.” The pledge is simple:
#1. Visit www.alleycat.org/NFCD and follow the link to the photo pledge and print out the “I’m an Alley Cat Ally” sign.
#2. Print your name, strike a pose, and snap a picture.
#3. Upload your photo to the Alley Cat Allies photo pledge page.
Allies come in all shapes, ages, and sizes – even species. If you’re camera shy, your furry friend can make the pledge for both of you. The photos will be compiled in Alley Cat Allies’ online scrapbook and will send a message to our nation’s pounds and shelters that Americans everywhere care about outdoor cats and support humane methods of care.
For more information, visit www.alleycat.org.
SIDEBAR:
What You Should Know about our Animal Control System
Over 70% of cats who enter our nation’s animal control pounds and shelters are killed. That number jumps to virtually 100% for feral cats.
The Benefits of Trap-Neuter-Return
Trap-Neuter-Return saves lives and ends the breeding cycle – and the common cat behaviors associated with breeding. Trap-Neuter-Return improves the lives of cats and makes them better neighbors. Many cities and towns across the U.S. have implemented Trap-Neuter-Return programs.
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