Denver, Colorado is home to tens of thousands of stray cats. They form colonies and breed uncontrollably. Destroying or relocating the cats only opens up space for more cats to move in. Local animal welfare groups are trying a different approach, but the job is overwhelming. Kristin Des Marais and Amy Angelilli of the Rocky Mountain Alley Cat Alliance are among those battling the feral cat population problem.
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Thirty thousand cats are euthanized every year in Colorado, double the rate of dogs. Many are homeless cats considered unsuitable for adoption. Working with RMACA, Des Marais and other volunteers are trying to reduce the kill rate by trapping ferals, spaying or neutering them, then returning them — in effect, transforming the entire colony from feral to sterile so that it will eventually die out on its own. But trap-neuter-return, or TNR, is a controversial solution, often unpopular with communities afflicted by the colonies.
"More often than not, people will call and say, 'Come pick up these cats,'" Angelilli explains. "They think we have a special vehicle we drive around and pick up stray cats and bring them to this utopia in the country. If people knew about TNR and why it works — but it needs to start before the population gets out of control. By the time people call us about the problem, they're usually so fed up that they just want the cats gone."
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It's not about "OMG don't kill the kitties!" It's about the idea that a stable, sterile group is a better long-term solution than scattershot killing/removal that creates room for cleverer, un-caught cats to hide and breed like crazy. I hope more people learn about this.
My brother is one of those people. For some unknown reason, he got himself 2 cats, and couldn't afford to fix either one of them, and surprise surprise, the female had kittens, again and again, and probably again.
See all it takes is two cats to out do all the work I did in 5 years. And you're not going to get people to do half of what I did. It's just never going to happen. People still have babies without planning, how can we expect feral cat populations to be controllable?
However, the "lists" post is 9/10 NOT about cats, but had few usable pictures. And this last one does not have a picture of a cat. So maybe that evens it out a little!
A stray cat that has been abandoned as an adult will retain human interaction skills for a while and can often be readily adopted; over time it may however revert to feral instincts. A true, life-long feral cat presents unique difficulties in terms of management.
Then what does neutering accomplish? Will there not be "more cats to move in" when the colony finally dies out?
As well-intentioned as neutering may be, it cannot solve the problem because the goal of neutering (killing off the colony) is only a longer-term method to achieve the same short-term result as destruction.
Two of her kitties are from the shelter and are super friendly and well behaved, one even has a notched ear so she was feral at one time. You wouldn't know it, she's very friendly. Of course the third cat is a total brat that has never missed a meal its entire life. I really recommend shelter kitties, they know when they've got it good.
Really guys, I really don't want to think that the majority of the USA is retarded, but you people make it really really really hard.
There is an overabundance of short term thinking, also here in Canada. It's nothing to worry about, luckily those that think the least, do just as much to actually help fix the problem in the first place.
@Johnny Cat
I had to watch that movie with the sound off; the computer voice was freaking me out.
Actually, neutering only the males would be equally effective, not to mention cheaper and faster because it requires less invasive surgery.