When a substantial grant from Petsmart Charities allowed us to launch a Trap-Neuter-Return program with the birth of the Hope Clinic in December 2014, we had no idea what an impact this program could possibly have on our community.
Community cats and feral cats are a major issue throughout the United States, but the issue hits home specifically in Lenawee County and surrounding areas. As your local humane society, we knew that we needed to implement a humane, effective way to battle the cat overpopulation issue.
If you've ever interacted with a feral cat, you know these cats have more in common with wild animals than with your cuddly house cat. Trapping these cats, attempting to house them in our shelter in order to adopt them out is not only inhumane to them, but also extremely dangerous for anyone trying to handle them. Trapping these cats and euthanizing them was never an option either. Not only would this be inhumane, but due to the "vacuum effect," more feral cats would just move into the vacancies left behind by the cats we removed.
So then what?
The only proven humane, effective way to control cat overpopulation is Trap-Neuter-Return. This tried-and-true method has been implemented by organizations across the country with amazing results. Community and feral cats are trapped, spayed/neutered, rabies vaccinated and ear-tipped (to mark who has been fixed) then released back to their same location.
Why does this work?
When fixed, non-breeding cats act as "placeholders" in their colonies, they prevent new reproducing cats from moving into the area. These cats no longer exhibit naughty behaviors associated with breeding cats, such as spraying, fighting, and yowling. They stop spreading diseases. They finally become good neighbors.
When a colony no longer breeds, it no longer grows. Eventually, the population decreases as the cats age. It works!
Since the launch of the Hope Clinic in 2014, 1,204 total cats have been spayed/neutered through our Trap-Neuter-Return program. Our cat intake numbers have decreased, our adoptions have sky rocketed, and more cats and humans are benefiting than we ever thought possible.
This chart shows comparisons between the number of cats in our adoption program compared to the number of cats fixed through our Trap-Neuter-Return program between January 1-March 8 between 2013-2017.
