DIRECTIONS
• Compile all critical information (See the Best
Friends worksheet/checklist)
• Make copies of the Best Friends FAQ
document for officials
• Delete this slide from your presentation
• Personalize this PowerPoint presentation as
appropriate
• Practice the presentation, keeping in mind any
time constraints
Community Cats and
Trap/Neuter/Return
• SPEAKER’S NAME
• CREDENTIALS
• ORGANIZATION AFFILIATION
(if applicable)
• CONTACT INFORMATION
• Phone
• Email
INSERT A PICTURE OF
THE SPEAKER HERE
Free-Roaming Cat Dynamics
 Ownership status
• Owned
• Unowned
 Lifestyle
• Indoor only
• Free-roaming outdoor
• Free-roaming unowned
 Socialization status
• Friendly
• Unsocialized
 Continuum
• Move from one lifestyle to another
Community/Free-Roaming Cats
 Exist in all types of
environments
 May impact:
• Public health
• Environment
• Cat welfare
 7% to 26% of U.S.
households feed
community cats*
*American Association of Feline
Practitioners
Traditional Management Methods
 Community cats are often
unsocial, so they are deemed
unadoptable and killed in
shelters
 Community cats produce the
majority of kittens entering
shelters
 The sheltering system is illequipped to handle these
unsocialized animals
Trap and Kill
 Ineffective
 Fails to curtail population
growth
 Costly
 Leads to compassion fatigue:
• High employee turnover
in shelters
• Taints public image
 Publicly unpalatable
Philosophical Shift
in Animal Control
“The cost for picking
up and simply
euthanizing and
disposing of animals is
horrendous, in both
the philosophical and
the economic sense.”
—Mark Kumpf, President, National
Animal Control Association, 2010
Trap/Neuter/Return (TNR)
TNR:
A Non-Lethal Management Plan
 Humanely trapped
 Evaluated by a
veterinarian
 Spayed/neutered
 Ear-tipped
 Vaccinated
 Returned to the habitat
where originally trapped
Cat Deterrents
• Provide non-lethal,
proactive strategies
• Deter cats away
from areas where
cats are not wanted
(e.g., backyard,
garden)
Video about cat deterrents:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nnOibg6nYc
What? You Return Them?
Benefits of TNR
 Reduces shelter admissions
and euthanasia rates
 Improves public health
 Provides access to grant
funding and volunteer
participation
 Decreases nuisance
complaints
 Stabilizes and even reduces
the number of cats
TNR Successes
Jacksonville, Florida: Feral Freedom
Jacksonville reported:
 Net savings: 2007–2010
• $160,000
• 13,000 lives
 Decrease in feline nuisance
complaints
 31% decrease in feline shelter
admissions
• FY06–07: 13,455
• FY09–10: 10,302
Jacksonville: Feral Freedom
Impact on Feline Live Release Rate
LRR (%) w/FF
LRR (%) w/o FF
100
Percent of Intake
80
60
40
20
0
JUL 07
JAN 08
JUL 08
JAN 09
JUL 09
JAN 10
JUL 10
Salt Lake City: Feral Fix
 Feral Fix program (launched in 2008) reported:
• 2008–2010: SLC improved its save rate by 40.4%
Result: Overall cost savings of more than $65,000
• 2008–2010: Utah save rate only improved 4.7%
 In 2010, SLC realized a 21.8% decrease in shelter cat
intake from 2009
 No increase in feline nuisance complaints
Other Examples
(as Reported by Some Organizations)
 Maricopa County, Arizona:
cost per cat
• $61 to trap, hold and euthanize
• $23 to TNR
 Indianapolis, Indiana: cost per cat
• $130 to trap, hold and
euthanize (national average)
• $20 to TNR (IndyFeral)
Utah Community Cat Act
§11-46-303
 Gives Utah cities the
freedom to release cats
immediately for TNR
 Community cats are
eligible for release prior
to the 5-day hold period
Hazards of Feeding Bans
 They are impossible to
enforce
 Starving cats continue to
breed
 Desperate cats move closer to
homes
 Malnourished cats are more
susceptible to illness and
parasites
 Other food sources are
available
 Criminalizing kindness is bad
public policy
Problems with Cat Licensing
 Difficult to enforce
 May increase shelter
admissions because if too
costly, people relinquish
cats
 Hard to market for indooronly cats
 TNR implications:
• Cost-prohibitive
• Cats are not “owned”
Hazards of Pet Limits
 Limits are arbitrary
 Negatively impacts
responsible pet owners
 Difficult and costly to
enforce
 Fails to prevent
hoarding situations
 May deter people from
fostering animals
Cats Are Not the
Primary Threat to Birds
 “By far the largest threat to
birds is loss and/or
degradation of habitat”*
• Human development
• Agriculture
 Chemical toxins
 Direct exploitation
• Hunting
• Capturing birds for pets
*Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Threats to Native Birds:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/conservation/planning/threats
Liability
 Unsocialized cats tend to avoid people, thus
minimizing likelihood of contact
 Community cats are typically vaccinated against
rabies
 Liability results from negligence: A municipality’s
involvement in TNR for the purpose of reducing
free-roaming cat populations, protecting public
health (mandatory rabies vaccinations), and
resolving nuisance complaints is NOT negligence
Advantages of Adopting a
TNR Ordinance
 Promotes community
involvement
 Establishes reasonable
standards
 Defines duties
 Encourages caregiver
cooperation
 Gains caregiver trust
Effective Public Policy





Must consider the
human dimension
No solution works in
every area
Need creative,
integrated programs
Must be cost-effective
TNR (for maximum
effect)
• Caregiver trust and
cooperation
• Adoption
Existing Resources in
(insert name of city/town/or county)
Compile a list of all resources available to support TNR of
free-roaming cats:
• Funding
• Existing programs
• Volunteers
• Cooperative agreements
• Etc.
Ask them for what you want
• Be clear and concise
• Do you want:
Money? If so, how much?
Bans lifted?
TNR ordinance adopted?
Thank you!