Saturday, December 14, 2024
TomCat Solutions - 7865 Woodland Circle - Easton, MD 21601 - 410-822-1496 - thosbryan@gmail.com - www.tomcatsolutionsonline.org
TNR

Trap-Neuter-Return

   a summary presented by

The Humane Society of the United States



TNR stands for Trap-Neuter-Return. TNR, supported by leading national animal welfare organizations, is the most humane and effective method of controlling the free-roaming cat overpopulation crisis facing virtually every city, town, and rural community in the country. TNR involves trapping all or most of the cats in a colony, having them neutered, vaccinated for rabies, left ear tipped, and then returned to their territory, where they are monitored by their caretaker and provided with food and shelter. Whenever possible, young kittens and any friendly cats are removed for vetting and socialization, and placed for adoption.TNR immediately stabilizes the size of the colony if at least 70 percent of the fertile adults are neutered. Neutering closer to 100 percent will result in a gradual decline of the population over time. In addition, the nuisance behavior often associated with feral cats is dramatically reduced. This includes the yowling and noise that comes with fighting and mating activity and the odor of unneutered males' spraying to mark their territory. The cats tend to roam less and so become less of a visible presence, yet continue to provide natural rodent control, a valuable benefit in urban areas. Because there are hundreds of thousands of free-roaming cats, and because the vast majority cannot be homed, TNR is the best solution.




Drop Trap With Cover

We find that a drop trap is a necessity as an alternative to the Tru-Catch traps that we normally use.  Some cats who are trap shy will typically walk right under a drop trap.  In practice, we usually set the trap out as a feeding station for a couple of days to familiarize the cats with the trap.  Come trap day it is pretty straightforward.  Cat gets under the trap, wait until it has its face in the bowl and then spring the trap.  For those of you who might worry about the tail being crushed, fear not as there is a gap around all edges of the trap to avoid just such an injury.  We have added the cover to be automatically and quickly sprung to minimize the possibility of the cat injuring itself in the trap.  As soon as the trap is covered the cat will generally quiet down immediately.  This video was taken with a trail camera which had a timer of only 30 seconds so there was no time left to record the transfer process into the Tru-Catch trap.