For all those who want to trap and kill, what are your plans for all the rats and mice that will follow once the cats are dead?

I think the stray cat problem is being exaggerated. I've seen lots of communities with a far greater problem than Laurel has.

Trap-and-kill doesn't really work because it doesn't address the source of the problem: reproducing cats. People somehow think they can catch and kill all the cats and voila! no more problem. But then 6 months later you're right back where you started. The only reasonable solution is TNR (trap-neuter-return), but that means dedication and long-term care. Most people can't handle that so they just try to make up a bunch of reasons to kill cats. But if you don't stem the problem at its source, it will just keep happening. Educate people about spay/neuter, and promote TNR!

Alley Cat Allies has promoted TNR for over 15 years. To date only 3% of the 70-90 million of free roaming abandoned cats have been sterilized, consistent with studies that show that the total reduction of cats these programs effect is insignificant.Shelters,pressured by "no kill" advocates are willing to implement them in order to decrease their euthanasia rates by keeping them out.TNR programs also add large numbers of cats that are tame ,and kittens that are being socialized to the pool of cats looking for homes.Poor trapping skills,lack of monitoring the"colony" often increases the number of cats because new cats will join them if there are more cats than the cats in the colony.A recent study concluded that"all these efforts without an effective education of people to control the reproduction of house cats(as prevention for abandonment) is a waste of money,time and energy...and subsidized neutering for pet cats may be less expensive in the long run".The behaviors of intact cats is one of the major risk factor for abandonment(NOT the recession).After ten years providing community outreach,low cost/subsidized spay/ neuter assistance and transportation to poor cat owners in Baltimore city(which implemented TNR four years ago),and surrounding counties, and trapping-neutering-returning a thousand or more cats I invite you to accompany me on my weekly trips and see the dozens of cats roaming in trash and tell me that TNR "works" without fixing cats who are still in homes!

Are there any examples of cities that have a successful method for controlling cat overpopulation? I'd be interested to learn more on that... Any cities that have had success with TNR?

Part of the trouble with stats on TNR is it's really in its infancy on a national level. Cities are just starting to think of it as a legit solution. Prior to this, TNR was conducted by small groups of volunteers (and still is, primarily). Detractors claim it doesn't work because they somehow expect it to happen overnight, but unfortunately TNR is not an instant solution. Most real solutions aren't immediate, and it will take time to see the real results. I've only been doing TNR for 3 years on my own block and I have seen the difference it makes. Where before there were kittens constantly being born (most of which would died horribly before adulthood), we now have a set community of fixed adults whose numbers haven't changed much in the last couple of years. if there was a managed colony on every block in my city, there wouldn't be a feral cat problem in Brooklyn. we may be a long way away from that happening, but if we don't start now, we will never get anywhere.

The problem of the over-population of stray cats (and dogs) can best be handled by pet owners having their pets spayed or neutered so as to not inadvertantly be contributing to the problem. That, in combination with a rational consistent, and comprehensive implementation of T-N-R would go far towards alleviating this problem.
However, apparently, some people have an irrational hatred of cats and dogs, and cannot address the problem without revealing this hatred. Talk of extermination and the collection of collar "trophies" sadly reveals much more about those possessed by their own compulsive malevolence than they would like to admit.

Unfortunately, obsessive repetition of a diatribe helps neither the perpetrator, nor does it help to address a real problem..

Albert, you are quite radical, but you have many valid points supported by the literature: most people only feed cats and do not sterilize them. As long as there is an artifcial food source it will attract new cats.They are difficult to trap and most cat/TNR feeders do not have the skill or patience to trap newcomers. You are absolutely right,aggressive newcomers run out the ones who are sterilized.It also is not true that removing cats creates a vacuum effect. New cats will come because people LOVE to feed cats.It is also quite common for TNR people to "relocate" cats when they are in danger,therefore creating their own "vacuum effect".Sterilized cats die of disease,get hit by cars,and suffer.Unsanitary, often filthy conditions at feeding sites are quite common. My problem with TNR is that it actually generates more cats besides not decreasing the population.Some trappers do NOT trap and abort pregnant cats.Others only trap the kittens to find them homes. Cats often become trap shy and many more litters are born before the mother may or may never will be trapped because they do not use the kittens as bait to efficiently trap her.Most people who "hobby" trap use the piecemeal-approach, trying to trap ten cats with one trap and never succeed,adding additional cats to the group.As long as the birth rate of cats is greater than the sterilization rate,it is a lie that TNR decreases the "feral"cat population.And you are right,they will never tell you the truth,it's too much fun!

Albert,I absolutely agree with your calculation and LOVE,LOVE it! You are so right! For more information on TNR go to: TNR reality check.com

I would like like to make a final comment to clarify for anyone who may be confused about my unfavorable position on TNR despite having trapped at least a thousand cats in the last ten years and still trapping cats. I trap cats only by request.Most often people who contact me are middle class who can pay the low cost fee at I trap all cats at on.ce to achieve the best possible outcome. AlI pregnant cats are aborted.I prefer that the cats are on private property, are safe and accepted by neighbors.I require shelter and a responsible care taker.Many of the requests I receive have contacted other groups without success,they could not trap the cats themselves and most likely would be unsuccessful being handed a trap to do it themselves.I disapprove of feeding cats in general.I am aware of the futility of my actions and not excited releasing cats back that maybe would have stayed in their homes if we as a society would have reached out and provided spay/neuter assistance to their owners. These cats don't just live outdoors,they die there too,often slow and miserable!. I see dozens of cats in alleys who will continue to breed when I pick up cats from poor cat owners who contacted me because they want their cat "fixed". I provide transportation and carriers,stopping overpopulation where it starts--in homes! For about 500-800 cats/year(and I make no difference either) but I am at least at the beginning of the problem! HOW BORING!!!!

Why no rebuttals from the nonprofit TNR groups? The one in Baltimore city that proudly proclaimed it TNR'ed 589 cats last year in a city of an estimated 185,000 free roaming cats four years ago when the TNR ordinance was passed, where dozens of cats roam in trash in every alley in the many low income/poor neighborhoods,and where abandonment is the method of choice because no one from animal control will pick them up, where people set them on fire,and the "no kill" initiative at the city shelter, implemented six years ago, added I'm sure 10s of thousands or more to the population by handing out to anyone,person, group, or fosters and farms unaltered cats to decrease its euthanasia rate? Where are all the "no kill" county groups who are pressuring shelters to implement TNR in their counties because they want the "killing to stop",yet are busy feeding "bottle babies", making sure they' never run short on cats. These groups have lots to say on their facebook pages and boast about how well TNR "works"! You would expect them to support the Laurel group who believes that stray cats are "the unspoken victims of the recession"! (A few years ago some one blamed the warm weather). Where are they now!

re: Deleted Posts

Ah, the bliss of self-inflicted ignorance. What a powerful force it be. They'll even poke their own eyes out to remain wallowing in that bliss of ignorance all their sad and sorry lives. LOL

p.s. Keep up the good work Rose Bauman. If you check TNR rates and feral-cat populations in ANY location you'll find, just as I did when investigating the effectiveness of TNR to reduce cats' breeding-rates, that not more than 0.4% of them have ever been trapped and sterilized (nor trapped and euthanized either for that matter). TRAPPING JUST DOES NOT CUT IT. I must have researched no less than 100 TNR programs in nearly every state and country. Not even Oregon's amazing 50,000 TNR'ed cats have managed to reduce their reproduction rates. NOT ONE BIT.

IT'S ALL DECEPTIONS AND ALL LIES!

Trap-Neuter-Release is the ONLY effective option to resolve the feral cat problem in Laurel. Killing them will only cause a vacuum effect. Please visit Alley Cat Allies for more information http://www.alleycat.org/. If you are in support of TNR for Laurel cats, please join "laurelcatsdiscussion" at yahoo!

I belong to a feral cat agency that Traps, neuters, releases but we try to socialize first and put them up for adoption after vetting, we only put them back if they cannot be socialized or we have to room, we don't have a shelter, just volunteers that foster. The 4 colonies that I feed at are almost gone, the cats have been adopted or died of old age (of course there is always a chance of them getting killed other ways, cars, nasty people, etc) but it seems to work where I am as we are down to only 2 or 3 cats at each location. One of the locations would be over except someone dumped a Mom and 2 kittens there, we have trapped the Mom and one kitten and are trying to get the last. These will be adopted out as they are not feral. I cannot believe that people are so cruel that they do not think these cats are worth saving. I agree with Joelyne, it is the only effective option
By the way, I live in Woburn, MA.

These are God's creatures too . They have feelings and believe I have seen the suffering with my own eyes . It is the responsability of the human kind that one , the one that is supposed think rationaly to find a sensible solution to this problem

For all those TNR naysayers, I refer you to a recent study done by Fairfax County, VA, who adopted a TNR policy in October of 2008. This link is to Fairfax County's own press release. http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/news-releases/2012/011912trapneuterreturn.htm

Frankly, I'm appalled at the number of people voting to trap and euthanize. This method is not only extremely costly to the taxpayer but it DOES NOT WORK.

As a person who has done TNR I can say it works. You can find programs & low cost spay/neuter in any area. Killing cats is not the answer!! Contact www.alleycat.org if you need help in your area, they can put you in contact with the right people.

Here is an example of a county that has had success with TNR. I can personally attest to the success in my neighborhood. The effort began 6 years ago, and the number of cats in our neighborhood has dropped significantly.

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/news-releases/2012/011912trapneuterreturn.htm

Should we trap and kill all the Homeless people too!
Why would you kill an inocent cat just because he is homeless?

Cats are God's creatures too!! You don't see them euthanizing homeless people!!! They need to get with the program and neuter and release these beautiful creatures!!! I have had a rough life, and I am still alive today because of the unconditional love of my cat children and my family. I care for many feral cats in our neighborhood who just need love and care!!

The reason TNR works so well in my opinion is because it is ongoing. Those of us that care for ferals watch for new/non-neutered cats and start working to trap them. The cats are not afraid of the traps, because they are used to getting food, water, and shelter in that location. It is a cat "friendly" environment, so they have no fear of that location. It also isn't just an occasional after thought to trap. If any of us sees new comers (and we actually have a camera up, so we know what happens when we are not there). We set up the traps and keep working at it until eventually, we get them. It is very rewarding.

Compare that to people that will occasionally set up traps and haul those cats to the shelter to be killed. Mostly likely, they are only trapping the most friendly, trusting cats. Within months, those cats will be replaced by the non-neutered cats.

I feel TNR works best because it is an ongoing, systematic program. It will only succeed based on the dedication of the volunteers that care for the animals, and I'm fortunate to have linked with several in our neighborhood that are working together. We have been working the problems for years now, and have definitely seen the numbers decrease. We rarely see a non-neutered cat, and in that case, not for long :)

TNR seems to be working in Phoenix,AZ. But the public needs to be educated and on board with local non-profits goals. Check out the Animal Defense League of Arizona. www.adlaz.org Good luck Laurel. MD is where I'm from and it'd be a positive step to stop trap and kill- it just sounds wrong!

TNR along with fostering is the best way to go. I am fostering along with doing the TNR and it has really helped my area. Killing them is doing no good at all. Spay and neuter!!!Its not that difficult. They all deserve a chance at life too. Gee if we did the euthanizing for people too just think of how much more room would be in jails!!!!!!!!

I have had only one situation with this. I caught a very young mother cat and her three kittens. I had the mother cat spayed along with the two male kittens neutered. The kittens were able to be socialized very easily, but it did take me 8 months to gain the trust of the mother cat to even be able to pet her. All three have been a wonderful part of my family for the last 10yrs. All animals can be socialized. It is just a matter of time and patience. To think how many kittens would have come from the three if they were not taken care of.

I have done TNR in my Long Island neighborhood, we aren't heavily populated with a crazy amount of cats but I'd say there are at least 8 cats per neighborhood living wild. Most come from people who own cats that keep them outside, but they are not fixed! Others are abandoned and add to the population. I got one mother cat fixed and her offspring, and they all became friendly and stay in my yard I built an outdoor house for them. One of the males actually scares any new cat away so my yard only has had 6 stray cats in it for many years. If I hadn't done TNR there might have been well over 30 but I acted quick and now the cats are happy and healthy, and our field mouse and rat problem went away quickly!

was this article linked somewhere recently? it just got flooded with (awesome) comments. glad to see not everybody is as negative as Albert (aka woodsman on the milllions of other sites he posts on) or as depressingly pessimistic as Rose (whose oddly undercuts her own amazing work, sorry to see she has no faith in it). while it is true that education is crucial to getting the problem solved, it is patently false to claim TNR does no good, every cat fixed helps. if you don't like the status quo, get out and help!

Either A) Socialize them to live indoors with people or B) Euthanize them. You can't argue or prove that TNR programs are any worse or better at population control than Trap and Kill programs; they both remove the potential for offspring. So many "animal lovers" seem to forget that domesticated (feral) cats hunt for the sake of the hunt, regardless of food supply. This means natural rodents, birds, lizards, frogs, insects and other species that are SUPPOSED TO BE IN AN ENVIRONMENT get eradicated because people just "love" cats so much. Get off your high-horses and actually open your eyes to the rest of the animals out there you don't "keep" for your own and call a pet.

Let's also remember that cats are part of the environment and civilization just as humans are. We evolved together. We could protect "native" species by eliminating humans. But we don't do that, we should carry on our obligation to the cats that our ancestors left us with. We cant abandon them as a society any more than we shoukd drop off an unwanted pet somewhere and drive away
Spay and neuter.

Albert, why do you see TnR and spay/neuter assistance as an either/or dilemma? I've done both, promote both, and have personally prevented the birth of many unwanted kittens while helping feral caretakers get medical care for their charges. OF COURSE low-income owners need resources to alter their pets, but how do you draw the conclusion from that fact that feral cats should not be fixed as well? That doesn't make sense to me.

GOOD JOB TNR ADVOCATES MOBILIZING SUPPORTERS AFTER MY POSTING WONDERING WHERE THE REBUTTALS ARE! JUST TO INFORM YOU, I HAVE A "COLONY" FOR 10 YEARS ALREADY IN MY OWN YARD. WITH THE CONSENT OF MY NEIGHBORS I TNRed 17 CATS,SOME OF WHOM HAD KITTENS,BUILT SHELTER AND HAVE BEEN THEIR CARE TAKER SINCE THAT TIME. I HAVE 5 LEFT, SOME DISAPPEARED SHORTLY AFTER BEING STERILIZED, OTHERS HAD TO BE RECAPTURED BECAUSE THEY BECAME ILL AND WERE EUTHANIZED BY MY LOCAL SHELTER.TWO HAVE BEEN MY PETS FOR MANY YEARS. MY NEIGHBORHOOD IS A "MIDDLE CLASS" NEIGHBORHOOD WITH MOSTLY S/N CATS, AND THE WOMAN WHO GENERATED THE STRAY CATS HAS LONG DIED. IN ADDITION EVERYONE IN MY IMMEDIATE NEIGHBORHOOD KNOWS THAT I "FIX" CATS. WHEN I SEE A CAT IN A YARD OR WHEN TALKING TO NEIGHBORS WHO WALK THEIR DOGS, THE CONVERSATION IS ALWAYS ABOUT S/N AND MANY CATS HAVE BEEN STERILIZED BECAUSE OF MY EFFORTS. YES, TNR HAS "WORKED" IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD, AND TRAP TO KILL WOULD HAVE TOO BECAUSE NEW ONES HAVE NOT JOINED THEM AND I ACTUALLY NEVER FED CATS. YOUR REBUTTALS AND SUPPORT IS AS INSIGNIFICANT AS THE TOTAL REDUCTION OF CATS THAT TNR PROGRAMS EFFECT! THEY ARE LIKE MY OWN STORY IN MY OWN BACK YARD THAT CERTAINLY SHOWS THAT TNR "WORKS"' AND CATS CAN BE SOCIALIZED, OR IN OTHER WORDS....TNR PUTS OUT SMALL FIRES BUT CAN NEVER OUTPACE THE BIRTHRATE OF CATS AND THEREFORE THE REDUCTION IN THE TOTAL NUMBER OF CATS TNR PROGRAMS IS, AND WILL REMAIN INSIGNIFICANT AND ACTUALLY INCREASES THE POPULATION!!!!( POOR TRAPPING SKILLS).

Leave the cats alone, can we do it with the people?

YOU MAY WANT TO KNOW ANOTHER TNR STORY THAT "WORKED"! ABOUT 8 1/2 YEARS AGO I TNR'ed 43 IN A BUSINESS PARK FOR THREE "CAT FEEDERS". ONE BUSINESS OWNER THREATENED TO "KILL EVERY CAT". THE TWO WOMEN WHO FED CATS IN ONE AREA CUT HOLES IN HIS CHAIN LINK FENCE, ROLLED DOWN WINDOWS OF HIS CARS PARKED ON HIS PROPERTY HE RENTED AND THREW FOOD ALL OVER HIS CAR LOT. HE SHOWED ME THE FILTH AND DEAD KITTENS IN THE CAR AND THE DAMAGE TO HIS PROPERTY. THE OTHER FEEDER WAS AN ELDERLY WOMAN WHO LOVED FEEDING CATS AND HAD A YOUNG "RESCUER" WHO CAPTURED THE UNSOCIALIZED KITTENS TO FIND THEM "HOMES", A COMMON PRACTICE TO KEEP THE NUMBERS DOWN. THE OTHER FEEDER WAS A BUSINESS. FILTH,FLEAS AND UPPER RESPIRATORY DISEASE KILLED MANY KITTENS AND THEREFORE KEPT THE NUMBERS DOWN. LONG STORY SHORT, I TNR'ed 43 CATS, PAID FOR THEM, MADE SHELTER BOXES FOR ALL OF THEM, TALKED TO MANAGEMENT AND THE BUSINESS OWNERS BECAUSE "CAT FEEDERS" SEEM TO BE UNABLE TO ADVOCATE INTELLIGENTLY FOR THE CATS. I SUPPLIED CAT FOOD THAT I PAID FOR TO THE ONE WOMAN WHO CONTINUES TO FEED THEM FOR OVER 7 YEARS,PAID HER FOR HELPING ME CLEANING AND ADDING NEW STRAW FOR THE SHELTERS FOR MANY YEARS EACH FALL,ALTHOUGH THIS WAS NOT MY "COLONY".TODAY THE COLONY IS JUST ABOUT "EXTINCT".MOST OF THEM HAVE DIED. THE ELDERLY WOMAN HAS MOVED,AND I KNOW THAT NONE OF THE OTHER TWO FEEDERS WILL EVER TRAP A CAT THAT WILL APPEAR( AND THERE WILL BE PLENTY)AND,NEITHER WILL I! I HOPE ANIMAL CONTROL WILL COME AND ENFORCE ITS NO FEEDING ORDINANCE!

KUDOS to all of you doing TNR across the country! It absolutely works and it's a shame that people put down other people's efforts at trying to make the world a better place......but we know there will always be 'outliers' to society and someone to argue (not discuss) around every corner. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK TNR FOLKS!!

HERE IS ANOTHER STORY FOR YOU! A WOMAN IN MY NEGHBORHOOD WHO TOOK IT UPON HERSELF TO START FEEDING CATS IN AN APARTMENT COMMUNITY ABOUT ONE MILE FROM MY NEIGHBORHOOD, WHEN SHE DROVE A RELATIVE HOME IN THE MORNING AND SAW A CAT, IS NOW SNEAKING AROUND AT 5 am AND AFTER DARK TO FEED HER "BELOVED" CATS ON PROPERTY THAT IS NOT HERS! SHE IS TERRIFIED TO BE NOTICED BY SECURITY,AND AFRAID MAINTENANCE WILL TRAP THE CATS SHE SO DEARLY "LOVES" AND "KILL" THEM! I HAVE TRAPPED ABOUT 21 FOR HER ABOUT 6 YEARS AGO, BUT MADE IT CLEAR I WILL NOT CONTINUE TO DO ANY MORE. MANY OF HER CATS HAVE BEEN CRUSHED BY CARS, AND DISSAPPEARED,SEVERAL BECAME HER PETS. SHE BOUGHT A TRAP AND WITH ME PRESSURING HER TO TRAP NEWCOMERS, SHE ON HER OWN HAS TRAPPED MAYBE 5 MORE. SHE TELLS ME THAT THERE ARE CURRENTLY 7 NEW ONES,PROBABLY MANY MORE THAT SHE'S NOT AWARE OF.SHE IS AN EMOTIONAL WRECK,HAS AN AVERSION TO TRAPPING AND WOULD PREFER TO TAKE THEM ALL HOME TO ADD MORE TO HER OWN NUMBERS.FEEDING AND "LOVING" CATS HAS TAKEN OVER HER LIFE! HER GOAL IS NOT EVEN PUTTING LITTLE FIRES OUT,SHE IS INDEED "FEEDING AND BREEDING" THEM! IT'S QUITE DISGUSTING FOR A WOMAN HER AGE,OR ANY AGE ,CRAWLING AROUND TWICE A DAY IN THE SAFETY OF DARKNESS SO NOT TO BE SEEN FEEDING CATS. THE WORD "CAT HOARDERS" HAS BEEN USED TO DESCRIBE PEOPLE WHO FEED OUTDOOR CATS. SHE FITS THAT DESCRIPTION. MOST TNR PROGRAMS ARE ONLY "CAT FEEDING" PROGRAMS! DON'T LET ANYONE TELL YOU DIFFERENTLY!

CHRIS, ON WHAT PLANET DO YOU LIVE? ARE YOU REALLY THAT NAIVE OR ARE YOU PRETENDING TO BE NAIVE? THESE STORIES ARE THE NORM! IF YOU LIVE IN MARYLAND I CAN TAKE YOU TO MANY TNR SITES THAT ARE FILTHY, OVERRUN WITH CATS THAT ARE NOT EARTIPPED,AND HAVE CASUAL CARETAKERS WHO DON'T TRAP. REMEMBER, I AM IN CONSTANT CONTACT WITH THE PUBLIC BY PHONE(AT LEAST 20 CALLS/WEEK),OR IN PERSON AND HAVE TNR'ed AND PICKED UP FOR S/N THOUSANDS OF CATS ALMOST IN EVERY COUNTY AND THE CITY OF BALTIMORE IN THE LAST TEN YEARS.HOW MANY HAVE YOU TNR'ed OR PICKED UP FOR S/N SURGERIES? AND HOW MANY SPAY/ NEUTER EVENTS HAVE YOU ADVERTISED IN NEWS PAPERS,AND WITH FLYERS AND HAD STORIES IN THE NEWSPAPERS ABOUT THE SUCCESS OF THE EVENTS? MAYBE IN YOUR LIMITED WORLD THESE STORIES ARE HORROR STORIES. YOU NEED TO GET OUT THERE MORE! I INVITE YOU TO COME WITH ME ON MY WEEKLY TRIPS! I HAD 14 CATS FOR S/N YESTERDAY,7 OF THOSE ARE TNR'ed CATS(THE TOTAL NUMBER THAT LIVES ON THE CARE TAKER'S PROPERTY).AND I DO THIS EVERY WEEK!

Rose, as a fellow outdoor/feral cat advocate, I am respectfully asking you to stop commenting on this. It is not helpful to the cause.

And it would behoove everyone to remember that rose bauman is speaking of something that is NOT TNR. Her stories only illustrate the need for properly conducted TNR of cats rather than whatever it is she is speaking (voluminously).

This discussion would be more brief if people who did own pets would simply spay and neuter them. Additionally, if everyone would spend the $50 to just fix the one cat that keeps passing by their back door, we wouldn't have volunteers shelling out thousands to vet the colony of 10 that appeared in the neighborhood.

TNR is the only humane way to manage a problem created and perpetrated solely by humans. Without any reliable way to differentiate between feral cats, free roaming cats, and cats that may have been lost from a loving home, trapping and killing is cruel, without long term success and costly for taxpayers.

Rose, if you don't support TNR then why have you practiced it for so many years?!?! Wild animals of all species die everyday. Should we kill all the deer, fox, squirrels, and raccoons because they might be hit by cars or die from disease or starvation? I have successfully TNR'd cats for 13 years. If managed properly, feral cats can live long and happy lives. Chris Glazier is right. You do not cite any examples where colonies were properly managed. TNR is definitely part of the solution not part of the problem.

I TNR on Capitol Hill. I currently have a "kitten free zone" in my area which is great! I have also re-homed a stray who was not feral who showed up, and my own indoor kitty came off the same streets over 7 years ago. My colony is stable at 2 cats right now with a third newcomer I am trying to trap to TNR. Three seems to be the number of cats that this patch of the Hill has room for becuase every time I'm down to two, a third appears out of nowhere. I feed them 2x and it is a LOT of work with care and educating my neighbors AND buying all of the food myself. I have to find someone to watch and feed them when I go away for a weekend. It is a real commitment. But TNR DOES WORK if the humans are willing to work at it. It would REALLY BE GREAT if the pet owners on my street kept thier pet cats indoors as they should. I'm also not sure all of the pet cats that are allowed outside around my apartment are fixed. That is a whole other issue...lack of responsible pet ownership is what created the feral cat problem in the first place. I also agree that TNR not being a national program is a real problem. I'm working with my friend's mom in Ohio who has no local TNR and a HUGE feral kitty issue. She and her neighbor have been trapping and paying for TNR on thier own through a discount program they found in a neighboring county. We are so lucky to have CatniPP thought WHS in DC!!! I hope Laurel MD follows the lead and adopts TNR. It is the humane solution to a man-made problem.

I have also been doing TNR for 10 years and consulting and teching high-quality, high-volume s/n clinics and this effort is not helped by people posting information that is not central to the purpose right now which is to STOP/PREVENT trapping and killing cats in Laurel. Period. Extraneous anecdotal evidence is not helpful. Again, I asked respectfully hoping you will understand the bigger picture and want to be part of the solution, thus HELPING the cats AND the community. www.metroferals.org

JH - thank you for your dedicated work. It does take commitment. I also strive for a kitten-free zone. I tell my rescue group friends my motto is "no kittens". Apartment complexes are very difficult to TNR as tenants are constantly moving in and moving out. Many who leave also leave their pet cats behind. I've seen it many, many times. People even leave pets behind in their locked apartment and when crews come in to renovate they run out. TNR is important but we need to educate people. Programs directed towards school children can go a long way in changing the way society as a whole treats our companion animals.

WHAT solution? Is the goal of TNR not to "kill" cats in Laurel or anywhere else, or is to decrease the outdoor cat population? My anecdotal evidence was preceded by scientific evidence several days ago that no TNR program has EVER decreased the outdoor cat population by more than 0.4% and neither has trap to remove! The American Veterinary Medical Association policy includes the phrase "...the reduction in the total numbers these programs effect is INSIGNIFICANT". Another study concluded"...that all these efforts without an effective education of people to control the reproduction of house cats ( as prevention for abandonment),ARE A WASTE OF MONEY, TIME AND ENERGY". You can TNR cats or kill cats "until the cows come home",but as long as they keep coming neither will reduce the population. The above study also cited "...that the control of reproduction of owned pet cats is CRUCIAL to achieve control of the feral cat population." The same findings would obviously also apply to trap to kill. And I am not so sure if re- abandoning cats to let them die is more humane than euthanizing them. I have been helping cats and the community for 10 years by not only trapping cats but by providing s/n outreach to low income cat ownerand transportation to get their "house" cat fixed. Maybe you TNR people should do that too,otherwise you'll be bailing water til the cows come home,all while cat owners want to plug the hole. What's so hard to understand about that?

Susan L. You really don't have to tell me how to trap cats, I'm quite skilled at that. I trap from one to 20 cats AT ONCE ( I have 20 traps of my own, but could borrow at least 10 more if need be) to achieve the best outcome. Go to neighborhood cats,a better resource than alley cat allies that gives you info how to do "mass trapping".

I must have missed something here. Rose Bauman....why are you TNR'ing and doing all you do if you are so against it?

Marion Hosmer
Laurel's cat problem is an indicator that the people in that community need to be reached and targeted with a low cost spay/neuter outreach program. During any financial hardship people should have access to programs that can help with spay/neuter. Laurel's situation is an example of how the Animal Welfare organizations need to creatively grow in order to address the tragedy of animal overpopulation. Every shelter or animal group should have a "Reach Back" program that gets the mother spayed. Organizations should have an over population problem solving task force, that effectively targets and lowers the birth rate of owned animals. What should always be kept foremost in our minds is that cats need a place, a person, and spay/neutering. Efforts should be focused to keep cats in their place with their people. Intact cat behavior of spraying, howling, and producing litters is a factor in abandonment. TNR will not solve Laurel's cat problem. Under specific circumstances and areas it can control the population but it requires skill, dedication, management, a safe place, shelter, finances constant oversite and many many years of commitment from people. People should not be feeding stray cats unless they are able to control the breeding. Is someone capable of giving this to ALL of Laurel's cats? While the doors keep opening up and more cats are running into the streets because people can NOT afford to get them spayed/neutered.

TNR works! It has been successful in many communties!

Unfortunately, it doesn't work. To put a dent in the total number of cats, at least 71 percent of them must be fixed, and they are notoriously hard to catch. Cash-strapped cities can't afford to chase down, trap, and sterilize every stray—a process that costs roughly $100 per cat.
The needs of a domestic animal do NOT trump that of our native wildlife. They need to be removed, regardless of what cat hoarders will tell you- which is really whatl TNR is.

Lonnie: I'm sure for an obvious cat hater like you, it is hard to catch a cat. They're not stupid, they know when you don't like them. As for your "native" wildlife, sparrows are not native, are you gonna start killing all of them as well? Feral cats don't attack and kill kids the way some dogs do. Feral cats spend most of their time hiding from humans who have been cruel to them. TNR does work but it takes time. It took time for the overpopulation to become a problem, it will take time to remedy it. You really like to harp about "cat hoarders", I think you've been watching too much TV. You just don't like cats and you're using this as a place to rant about it.

Linda,I appreciate your comments. For decades pounds just killed everything that came through their doors! There was no data as to the causes of overpopulation and relinquishment or abandonment. Then research studies and data became available and shelters still didn't utilize the findings to keep animals from coming in! Spay/neuter became more publicized and today 85% of owned cats are sterilized. However, low income cat owners still are not able to fix their cats! They cite cost as the major reason for not having their cat fixed. Yet for 15 years rescue groups,shelters and TNR groups have been treating cat overpopulation with adoption,killing and TNRing. Little attention has been paid to PREVENTION! No TNR program can ever be effective if shelters don't provide public education about s/n. Shelters have no uniform standards ,neither have rescues and TNR groups. ANYTHING GOES.Now shelters want to decrease euthanasia rates and let rescues haul them out and yield to no kill and TNR people to legalize TNR. TNR programs sound good,but they cause mayhem in reality and just don't work, and rescue groups are doing the same. We just have to accept that maybe studying the LITERATURE and implementing preventive programs and not just bailing water witout plugging the hole is what needs to be done! And stop all the nonsense of adopt, forever homes and decreasing the outdoor cat population with TNR.

Thank you for this story. Some try to stay away from "controversy", but I think this is important. Most of these cats had owners at one time, or they are the offspring of cats that had irresponsible owners. It is sad. I am happy to see they have a voice. I just hope it is HEARD!

My community is the poster child for a working TNR program. We have outreached to the residents and educated them and done TNR on over 800 cats. We have kept data on our area for 5 years and the population has stabilized and we have no new kittens. That's the proof that a functioning TNR program works.
Mayport Cats,Inc
www.mayportcats.com

Mayport Cats, yes, you certainly are the "poster child" for all TNR programs. Just as typical as every other TNR program I've investigated.

Data taken DIRECT from TNR-Advocates' OWN resources:

Estimated Cat Population of Duval County, Florida
Estimated Number of Cats 378,000
Estimated Number of Free-Roaming Cats 207,900
Estimated Costs Associated With Alteration and Return Per Cat
Trap/Fieldwork $50
Neuter/Spay $30
Physical Exams $40
Vaccinations $30
Estimated Cost of TNR in Duval, Florida Per Cat $150

800 feral cats is only 0.38% of the total feral-cats in your county. 99.62% of feral-cats in your county are still breeding out of control.

Do a 1-year population growth projection on those that you've not sterilized yet with only 2 litters per year (not the 3 or 4 they are capable of) with a 90% survival rate, and we find that in 1 year you'll have 3,017,151 feral-cats. Approximately 8,266 cats are being born PER DAY from your present population of cats. If you can't trap and sterilized that many PER DAY, you're not even matching their breeding rates, much less slowing them down. At a cost of community resources by donation, volunteer hours, or outright cash valued at $1,239,900.00 -- PER DAY -- INTO PERPETUITY. Funds diverted from your community by lies and deception into sterilizing an INVASIVE-SPECIES animal. I.e. CON-ARTISTS.

No surprise there! YOU ARE LOSERS. Just like every other TNR program I've ever investigated.

Linda, absolutely can I provide the data that I cited: "Management of feral domestic cats in the urban environment of Rome (Italy)" by Natoli et al,2006. This research is also cited frequently by Alley Cat Allies because it initially decreased the size of the colonies, partly due to removing kittens and cats that got killed by cars. The study identified an immigration rate of 21% " due to abandonment and spontaneous arrival"( that is the part Alley Cat Allies likes to leave out) and the authors concluded that "subsidized neutering for owned pets may be less expensive in the long run". The other info. that I provided is from the America Veterinary Medical Association Policy Statement on free-roaming abandoned cats, 2009. It also includes : " The AVMA encourages public education that reduces abandonment of domestic cats and eliminates public feeding of unowned and free-roaming cats". Sorry that I am not able to link it,but if I can get research studies to educate myself ---ANYONE CAN!

Albert & Rose -- Just because someone advocates TNR does NOT mean they're against subsidized neutering. My personal belief is that no cat or dog should be adopted out before being neutered - period! Some county shelters and rescue groups have already embraced this idea. The problem starts with irresponsible pet owners. However, I'm not going to condone the euthanasia of healthy animals simply because their human caretaker was irresponsible and heartless and probably shouldn't have gotten a pet in the first place. No one here is saying TNR is the only solution. TNR is part of the solution. Euthanizing every free-roaming cat or dog in sight is not a solution. If the issue is wildlife predation - why is it that no one ever mentions that the number one cause of dwindling bird populations is habitat destruction and human activity (collisions with man-made structures, pesticide use, etc)? Anyone hear about the hundreds of birds that dropped dead on 95 North in Laurel a couple weeks ago?

Albert D. - Here's one cold hard fact. You have some serious "issues". What you propose is complete fantasy. There is no government (or neighborhood for that matter) that would condone people shooting cats in city streets?!? Well, maybe in China. We're trying to discuss real solutions here. Glad you don't live in my neighborhood.

Good grief! Why don't you just meet somewhere and duke it out?! This back and forth negativity is grievous. I am completely appalled and disgusted to read that someone has shot & killed "hundreds of cats" on his property, and seems proud of the fact. People like you make people like me want to go postal. I respect ALL life and cannot imagine being a tormented soul who takes joy in killing innocent animals. I have rescued MANY animals in my lifetime, and found homes for many of them. I have spent a small fortune to care for these animals to prevent them from being euthanized because there are so many who meet that fate. I continue to have hope because I know there are many people out there who feel the same way about animals. It is very unfortunate that so many people think that euthanasia is the answer to animal control. If cats were considered valuable to any degree, we wouldn't have a population problem. Unfortunately, most people see them as a nuisance and have no problem killing them. Obviously, these people have no empathy and no soul. These poor cats have done nothing to warrant such hatred and animosity. They deserve a chance at life as much as we do (if not more). Human overpopulation is the problem, NOT cat overpopulation. And remember, what goes around, comes around. I hope you get yours soon...

"It is better to light one small candle than curse the darkness." Our shelter offers free spay-neuter to people who call about feral/free-roaming cats. Our veterinary community has joined our city/shelter's efforts by volunteering at day-long clinic series to alter mass quantities of cats, concentrating heavily on the months before they give birth with a goal of completing each colony (or 90% min.) Over 12,000 surgeries to date. Don't know of a validated system to determine the number of feral cats in our city. but the kitten intake declined by 85%. It took 3 years to see a demonstrable difference but TNR worked. Biggest problem: hoarders, They allow their unaltered cat population to roam in-and-out, hiding breeding stock when arrested. Our code enforcers and police act as soon as we hear neighbors' complaints of growing population and annoying and smelly conditions. Legal action has resulted in mandatory spay-neuter of all cats and subsequent follow-up random inspections, or the option of facing charges in court that can result in fines and/or jail time. Problem 2: previously mentioned by others-messy feeding sites, no effort to conceal shelters and feeding so "dumping" is encouraged, and leaving too much food which draws flies and vermin. We can learn from each other and hopefully collaboration toward a population decrease will aid the effort. Harsh and hateful words only widen the divide. Absolutely needed: 100% pre-adoption s-n by rescues & shelters!
J Phillips

p.s. To the slow idiots that found the bug in patch.com's voting mechanism, you can stop wasting your time. Because after you are done, I'll just increase the votes against your favor.

Over 12000 cats have gone through our clinics Albert, and not one has ever had a "false" ear-tip. We shave females for spay scars and males are easy to check. The person who claimed to eartip unaltered cats is either a mentally ill hoarder or playing games with inflammatory e-mails to get attention. Not TNR is any aspect, Albert, and hopefully his "game" will not fool the authorities for long. He's a man very much in need of psychological and/or psychiatric help and I hope he gets it. It's like saying that if one doctor has a psychological problem, all doctors would fit into the category of mentally ill...totally ridiculous!
J Phillips

TNR is the most humane solution and it works!!! The unecessary killing of God's animals has to stop.

Now that the dust has settled, it will be up to the city of Laurel which of the two ineffective methods of "decreasing" the free-roaming and feral cat population it will choose. Implementing TNR will quiet the voices of no kill advocates to "stop the killing",it will keep a large number of cats out of its shelter, thus reducing euthanasia rates and create an image of a "kinder, gentler" shelter. Less bottle babies and kittens will enter the shelter because TNR people will feed and foster them. The pool of cats and kittens looking for" temporary forever" homes will increase and the plea to the public to "adopt" will become louder. The only question is are there enough citizens who will adot them? It's a crowded market these days,and many of those adopted will end up in a shelter again.(shelters are quite aware of this fact).But after all, who would want to trap to kill them? It's much easier to let them die on their own and call them wild life,a strange definition because we don't let racoons sleep in our bed or put them in cages at Petsmart to find homes for them. Millions of outdoor kittens will be born again this season,the product of the tens of millions of stray cats that are roaming in our cities,evidence that years of trap to kill and TNR has made NO dent in it! How could it? Eventually you got to plug the hole, bailing water just is not enough! Maybe it's time to find the hole and PLUG it!

Rose, If you sterilize a cat, indoor or outdoor, owned or unowned, feral or friendly -- whether you are poor, middle class, or a millionaire, THAT CAT DOES NOT REPRODUCE. PERIOD. There can be no argument that TNR is ineffective because by definition you are altering cats. Sterilization is 100% effective at preventing unwanted litters. Sure, if you don't alter a specific cat, there is still the capacity to reproduce, but all that means is more support, not less, needs to be given to ALL groups who work to spay/neuter cats/dogs regardless of what "type" they are or who does or does not "own" them.

Time to get off your high horse, Rose. Not everyone has the PRIVILEGE you have (talk about middle class hobby!) to run such a comprehensive spay/neuter program. I know many individuals who participate in TNR who work full time and have families and I'm sure you know more than a handful yourself. What you do is truly wonderful but not everyone is in a position to do exactly what you do. That doesn't mean their efforts should be sh!t on.

If someone alters even one cat that is not their own then more power to them. This is not a "who has fixed more cats" pissing contest.

Man! Rose & Albert, what a pair! What kind of koolaid are you drinking? Maybe you could consider adding some respiradone or antipsychotic meds. (You know what I mean nurse Rose?) I picture the two of you sitting at your screens, apoplectic, frothing at the mouth, pounding on the CAPS key. woo hoo! No one on the TNR side is half as entertaining. Whether you're right, half right or completely wrong, it's really entertaining to see rabid "whatevers" go ballistic on their computers screens. Apologies to the polite commenters, but so glad I don't live the US cause there's some crazy locos there! OK Rose & Albert....let 'er rip! Looking forward to it. hee haa!

Hey Rose! Nice to see someone I know on this thread. I am Rachel, founder of Rachel's Rescue Ranch, a Non-profit feral cat rescue and volunteer with Cats'R'Us, also a feral cat rescue. I'm not going to run on here but feel I need to make a statement. As members of our communities, we all must do what we are capable of doing to responsibly and humanely manage this issue that impacts ALL of our communities. People contact me because they find themselves in need of help to sterilize either their own pets, or feral cats they have discovered. In every instance I have partnered efforts to TNR, (and nowhere near as many as Rose) this has successfully improved the overall situation. My efforts will never solve the overpopulation crisis. But I can tell you, my street no longer has a feral cat problem. To any overwhelmed person out there, YOU ARE capable of finding a humane resolution to the particular feral kitty issue keeping you up at night. My colony cats are nicely plump and happy. People, we can make it better. Not perfect, but better. Ask for help. If you don't get it at first, keep asking. We don't have to kill them all to fill rendering drums at Valley Proteins. If TNR is abandoned, we'll continuously fill far more drums of dead cats than there would otherwise be.

Oh Dear,I don't know what to say! There is a certain age in a child's cognitve develoment (7-11 years) that it only has the ability to think concretly. The child still has not learned to conceptualize or generalize. Are you all at this stage? Personal attacks, defensiveness and ignoring reality seems to be your strategy to deflect attention from yourself. But that is a strategy quite common in the cat world,much easier than focusing on the issues or facts.Attack anyone who disagrees with you. My suggestion is to read more and attack less! Get FACTS before you run your mouth! Don't be a 7-11 year old child, by now you shoul have developed higher levels of cognitive skills. Maybe Peter Marsh's book "Replacing Myth with Math: Using Evidence-Based Programs To Eradicate Shelter Overpopulation"(2010) may do it. You can read it on line,where you also can find his Overpopulation Quizz, and many more research articles. It may increase your ability to conceptualize. It may keep you from attacking and telling everybody that things are working in your neck of the woods! It may make you a little more HUMBLE!

Animal control officer : Your comment is sincere and addresses real issues. Many cats don't even live 5 years! Some live in constant fear,often infested with ear mites and fleas even when treated at the time of surgery.Some have frostbites,no available water during winter and no real shelter.Last summer I trapped 20 cats in a neighborhood in Baltimore which a nice woman paid for,because the couple who are feeding them would have not been able to pay for it. I also trapped 10 kittens which I took to the shelter.Around the corner I also trapped 3 females and 12 kittens, the litters of these females. I again brough them to the shelter. It was hard work because I trap all cats/kittens at once. My point: you cry, I don't cry anymore,but felt and always feel quite "down" after releasing,or re -abandoning? them. I usually follow up to see how the cats are doing but not that time. I really don't want to know how many are still coming,or how many are not coming anymore. Maybe the couple who feeds them may even know which ones got crushed by a car,just as some of the kittens before I trapped the the ones that were alive. I don't want to know how many new ones have arrived,because there are other cats in the neighborhood and food attracts cats. If these cats would have been "removed" and the couple would have stopped feeding, new cats would not move into the area,even so there are plenty more cats in this neighborhood. They were all nice cats!

Maybe it is because I am German born that nobody understands what I am saying! The cats in my yard was a ONE time event! No new ones are coming.They LIVE in my yard under my supervision,if they get sick I recapture them and have them euthanized so they don't suffer.My neighbors were part of the decision. If we would have trapped them to remove, the same outcome would have been achieved because I did not feed them prior to trapping them nor did my neighbors. WHY CAN NOBODY SEE THE DIFFERNCE BETWEEN MY SITUATION AND A TNR PROJECT IN AN OPEN AREA WHERE MANY CATS ARE ! I am not on my high horse! If you are having fun doing TNR,more power to you! I'm not having fun! And I am aware that I am making NO DIFFERENCE,because there are a lot more cats than I TNR and a steady supply will come from abandoned intact cats from homes that cannot even afford low cost s/n

Linda S. why would I start a TNR PROGRAM? My primary focus is to reach out to low income and poor cat owners to tranport their cats and get them fixed,so maybe they'll stay in their homes! But even if they get left behind or run away,at least they are fixed. My TNR projects are by request. Do you know how many "older" people like me could never trap their own cats! Especially not with one trap. For me,because I am always doing this cat stuff, it means being efficient, organized, and to the point.It's like triage in an emergency room: assess, identify the problem,plan what you need to do,implement and evaluate it. I always say I WANT TO GO HOME again, after I do the best I can do. No shennanigans or socializing for me. The people that I do TNR for seem to be ok with me getting all their cats in the most efficient way.

Rose...".Attack anyone who disagrees with you". The only ones really "attacking" here are you and Albert, and Albert is a nut. You are arrogant and pompous. Go ahead....now you get to call me childish and ignorant. Just because people don't agree with your opinion doesn't make them childish, naive or uneducated on the subject.

This is ONE accusation that I will defend: that I CHARGE to trap peoples' cats! I often even pay for some cats myself. Why you would accuse me of that I cannot understand,Linda S.!

Rose, If ignorance is bliss, you must be extraordinarily blissful! To say in such an arrogant, authoritative tone, that TNR is "by the middle class--for the middle class" --- "a middle class hobby" is one of the most outrageous statements I have ever, in my many years of animal welfare advocacy and volunteerism, had the misfortune to encounter! As the former president of a well-respected animal welfare organization in Morro Bay CA, I can tell you, unequivocally, and as the voice of experience, that TNR WORKS! An example(among many) of a successful TNR program is Cal Poly University in San Luis Obispo CA. Faced with impending euthanasia of a large number of feral cats, several concerned employees and students presented a plan to university administrators, which was accepted on a probationary basis. With 400+ feral cats, in addition to a large number of cats abandoned by students, they began TNR, vaccination and adoption programs. In only a few years, through attrition, rescue, rehab and adoption, they were able to report an 80%+ population reduction and their success was lauded by university officials.(SMART people, Rose!) If we were to divide the responsibilities for TNR into geographical areas and IF we had dedicated, trained people to do the work, it would work---no question about it. Get a life, Rose! Get off the computer, get in the trenches(if you're still ambulatory) and train these people who are the object of your disdain! YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Linda, I am not sure why are you saying these things. The Educated Cat INC. is a non-profit group. Our goal is to "Fix a Cat while still in a Home".We host spay/ neuter events and provide transportation and carriers for the cats in addition to TNR by request. We don't even do fund- raising and only once were we able to decrease the cost as we did in Dundalk where we were able to fix cats for $29.99. We advertised in the Dundalk Eagle and during this event we s/n over 150 cats. We also had a front page story in that paper about our program. Other s/n events in AA county are advertised the same way,although we cannot always make the cost that low and only on an individual basis. The response is HUGE! People really want their cat fixed. Our brochure identifies what we do and the low cost prices. We NEVER charge for anything,and frankly, we don't get much on donations because we help low income people. We buy our carriers and traps and never charge a fee! City people can barely pay the $20.00 for a cat at the TNR clinc. I am not sure why you are saying these things. I can tell you are really angry and want to lash out at me. My integrity is very important to me and can be supported by many who know me. My county animal control knows me and what I do and has sent many people to me who contacted them about low cost s/n for indoor cats and outdoor cats that they would like to have trapped.

Linda S, take your time to read my reply since you felt it necessay to accuse me and The Educated Cat of profiting on a money making scheme at the suffering of cats.
I find your remark offensive.

From a cost perspective, there is no expense to taxpayers for a cat to be fixed, vaccinated for rabies and distemper and then returned it to a managed colony (because a humane group or individual usually pays) compared to killing a cat at a shelter. Save your money and allow the TNR groups to do their work. Cats that come in through a TNR group that are gravely ill or injured will be HUMANELY euthanized, not gassed. Ask your local animal control agency about their expense per cat killed at their office if you don't believe me.

Linda, your statement that TNR programs are "preventive" is absurd! TNR just as overpopuation euthanasia are "reactive" and both haven't done one thing to prevent them from "COMING OUT OF HOMES"!The same applies to rescues and their well known phrase of "rescuing them from high kill shelters"! Why not change the rhetoric to "KEEEEEP THEM IN HOMES!!!!" Lots of work to be done in this area to keep all of you busy!. We are the only group that exclusively "saves" cats' lives by PREVENTION,in addition to TNR which we know is "reactive", because the problem has already occurred! Maybe rescue groups should downsize, and become "keep them in homes" groups, and stop going so much to "high kill" shelters and reach out to communities instead where the cats are at greatest risk for ending up in a "high kill" shelter or are abandoned. That's preventive! But that's probably too boring especially now that you all know how much work it is and that it requires skills you may not have and that you MUST provide transportation to REACH those cat owners who need the most help getting their cat fixed!

You believe, then, that because we advocate for TNR, when we talk to people who want or already own pets who are low-income, we tell them to breed their pets??? Do you also believe that none of us arguing with you here has ever transported an animal to a vet, or paid for the spay or neuter of an owned pet??? Are you mad? I'm sorry. I find it truly odd and more than a little bit frustrating how intent you are on disparaging ANY approach other than one. Rescue groups each have their own missions and policies. I see roles for all of them. I don't think that you've ever really tried asking here, whether anyone would like to help promote services to get pets of low-income people necessary veterinary care. I know that I and my organization have never been contacted. Here is your chance: make an ask for the help that you will accept. How does one volunteer to drive pets to vets or how does one donate toward spaying and neutering? WHAT is it you believe that your counterparts in humane education and animal welfare are so "bored" by???

Reading all this....stuff.......You know what's lovely? Taking a long hot bath, having a wonderful meal, and painting your toenails. Be glad for the animals you have prevented from being born and thank everyone who has done the same. I had a 6month old cat adopted today. For some reason, she decided she wanted to be a companion cat. I TNR'd the entire colony. Hooray! Another small happy ending because I'm just crazy enough to have taken on yet another case from someone asking for help! No more kittens being born off Rita Dr! The only negative outcome here is the HORRENDOUS REEK in kitty shed from recovering the feral males! Arm and Hammer air filter time! Doin' the happy TNR dance, oh yea! It's mah birthday! Oh yea! Fix dem kittehs! Raise the roof! I'm a happy kitty rescue chick! Rock out!

Next time you visit that colony, stop off at the pet-store first and buy some canaries and hamsters. So when you get to YOUR cats, you can throw those small animals at them so they can rip them to shreds for their and your amusement. It would be NO DIFFERENT than what they are doing when you're not looking. Maybe you should be FORCED to see what YOU HAVE CAUSED.

TNR Pracitioner = Blind, Heartless, Self-Serving BIT*H.

Who would like to accompany me on one of my weekly trips, picking up cats from low income cat owners in Baltimore city around Monroe St, Fulton,off North Ave.,Caroline,Bentlou,Ramsay,Belair Rd.,Brooklyn, Curtis Bay,CarrolSt.,Ward St.,Washington Blvd.,Eagle St.,Smallwood, DeSoto........... Let me know,and I will schedule you for one of my weekly trips or a TNR project that I have scheduled.

Linda S, Please read my message above under your reply. It may help you to understand the mission of The Educated Cat, and it's outreach to s/n cats in homes.
I would encourage you to observe and accompany in Rose's outreach and you will get a better understanding of it's effect on overpopulation. The Educated Cat has experience in TNR, I encourage you to experience outreach s/n. Lets not stop talking at TNR. Lets talk OVERPOPULATION. You ask me why would I join Rose in outreach?
Well 20 years ago I reached out to my neighborhood with s/n of their owned cats. Then when with my church's mission of delivering food and clothes to people in need. I always "Reached Back" to help these people get their pets s/ned. Rose has been successful in organizing large outreach projects and continuing reaching the people. I know the joy of keeping a cat in IT's HOME. Isn't this forum about ideas and education?

Linda S there is no vacuum effect in TNR as long as there is a supply. Rachael posted how she found a home for one of the kittens.She was fortunate enough to place it in an inside HOME s/ned. She cleaned up an outside cat breeding mess using TNR, from her statement that there are No more kittens. She may have even found the SOURCE that created this outside situation. My expexience with TNR the source was always a home.
If she reached back to those people she addressed the full cycle of that overpopulation problem. Otherwise there will be more cats. My experience is Source not Vacuum.
You know the TNR situation Rose spoke about that she was accused of doing incorrectly
because the details upset people. She did not give you all the details. I was there. Many of the cats were in pathetic shape. I knew this job was huge, and the condition and location they were in would be a tremendous effort. I thought that many should be euthanized, however Rose moved through every obstacle to TNR them. She persevered uncovering three groups of cats colonies interacting with each other. Four months later she was still observing these animals and tracking down more cat movement.She knew she had not solved the whole overpopulation cycle. She once again asked me to help her. My son and I went to the adjoining neighborhood and found the source. An elderly woman feeding her owned cats and some of it's decendents in her yard.

Linda S, Overpopulation is killing cats. It is rapid. It is happening. Rose spent over 4 months working on that problem, before she found the source. She saw every cat and was dedidcated to them as they dwindled away. I remember a beautiful calico named Pocohontas.
She was a semi socialized cat. I encouraged Rose to put her back as how many semi-unsocialized cats should one own? What life would this cat choose? Being locked in a home or existing in the only life it knows? I remember how she called me 3 years later to help get Pocohontas out of her outdoor shelter at that site, as she was dying. 4 months and 44 cats. If she had not found the source, she would still be busy in that location. Outreach to low income s/n 44 cats in less that 2 weeks and they stay in homes. The unaltered flow of cats to the outside has been halted from those people. TNR is not the whole thing, it is the part people can see on the roads. Expand the conversation of TNR to include all the parts of the overpopulation crisis, please include the people that need help with their animals.
The movement and dialogue should be overpopulation and it's parts. One of which is TNR.
If overpopulation is ever fully addressed there will be no need for TNR. That should be a goal.

I'm glad to see at long last, that aside from Woodsman, we all agree. TNR is a legitimate program, a part among several, of solving community animal problems. Because the "professionals" in animal control agencies cannot, and have not, been willing to lend any resources to identifying the sources of conflict, devising programs or identifying resources (like Educated Cat in Balto, like Prince Georges Feral Friends SPCA in PG), to support to solve the conflicts, we citizens end up competing for attention and resources. Meanwhile, government agencies enjoy generous budgets that finance vehicles and offices for bureaucrats, and little real benefit for animal care OR control. Although the poll is not scientific, it seems a majority of Patch readers would like to see a TNR Program for Laurel. Now, what will PG's Animal Management do behind the scenes to quash the wishes of the people who pay that agency's salaries? PG defies even its own judicial system.

Actually Marion, the laws should govern, and there ought to be regulations. There are laws which the county has been violating for a very long time -- and was recently called out about. And do YOU have a copy of any current regulations for PG? Because I do not believe that PG has ever even begun to identify procedures that it would follow. I agree it takes working together. That's why in PG, we and many, many, many others have usually attempted first, to meet and offer help to the County. It is only after such efforts are continually rebuffed, that citizens decide to take things entirely into our own hands.

This is not so much an emotional issue as one that requires us to bring intelligence and some analytical thinking to the case. (BTW, I recently took a short quiz that reports I am a bit more left-brain than right-brain dominant). The emotion a lot of people here have felt the past few days is more frustration than anything else. I suspect there are many things I do not know about the politics of animal care and control in Baltimore. If you are able to survey all of the state of Maryland and keep up with all of the activity and policies and programs, kudos! I find that focussing and learning the ins and outs in one county has made a big difference.

Absolutely! NOW you say it?!?!?!? Now, I think we're just preaching to the choir -- and maybe there are only a couple of us still reading this, sadly!

I would like to add one last comment. I know for a fact that the City of Greenbelt has embraced TNR. Greenbelt is also in PG County. If Greenbelt can do it, so can Laurel. :)