Alley Cats Canada
Alley Cats Allies in the USA has fantastic information on how to conduct Trap, Neuter, Release programs, also known as TNR. We want to make similar resources available for Canadian feral cats.
If you are being driven crazy by spraying and caterwauling in your community, you should start a TNR program!
If you feed stray and feral cats, you must implement a TNR program!
If you want kill rates at local shelters to decrease, you must support an agressive TNR program!
If you care about your local bird population, you must support TNR!
In the USA, one feral cat colony went from over 300 cats to zero. It took more than a decade, but the community had the support of city council and the local chamber of commerce. Because of public irresponsibility, not all colonies will go to zero as more cats are dumped ruthlessly on the streets all the time. This is now illegal in many areas (failing to provide the necessities of life), but it still happens.
The great thing about TNR programs is that reproduction rates drop dramatically. It also stops the endless cycle of "catch and kill". Shortly after a colony of cats is exterminated, new cats will move in and the undesired behaviors will commense all over again. TNR means that the number of shelter admissions decreases, helping to reduce the burden on shelter resources.
If your town or city proposes a feeding ban, stand up and organize to oppoose it. Do your research on the cost-benefit of TNR, and the probable illegality of a feeding ban. Meet with people concerned in your community, get organized for the long-run, and set up meetings with city councilors. Make your arguments clearly and concisely. Listen to the councilor and answer his/her questions. Make sure they can contact you for further information if they have new conserns that might arise.
If you are a prospective large donor to a shelter, find out what their TNR program is and what their policies are (e.g. if a single cat tests positive on a single test for feline leukemia or FIV). Direct your donations to improving the program if the spaying and neutering is not fully subsidized for the colony caretakers. These people, often of modest incomes, spend a great deal of money to spay and neuter their animals, but they often breed faster than they can afford to spay and neuter them. Some colonies in a typical Canadian city can be as large as 300 cats. Not many people are going to pay for that! (Fortunately, most colonies consist of about 12-30 cats).
Do you have some advocacy and educational materials that Canadians who care about street cats might need or benefit from? Especially nice would be printable documents, such as doorhangers warning people to keep their pets inside on a trapping night (for TNR), flyers for neighbors, and presentation materials that could be used to leave with municipal politicians. If you have something ideal for this website, please contact us with the details! I can also put up PSAs, and youtube videos. I have asked permission to link to Allie Cat Allies in the USA, but some of their information materials do not apply to Canada. Especially usefull would be editable documents that people could send to their local printer for hopefully low-cost printing. If you are a professional graphic designer and would like to help, feel free to contact me and we can develop some tools for people who are out there helping the cats.
Thank you all for caring about the cats!
If you are being driven crazy by spraying and caterwauling in your community, you should start a TNR program!
If you feed stray and feral cats, you must implement a TNR program!
If you want kill rates at local shelters to decrease, you must support an agressive TNR program!
If you care about your local bird population, you must support TNR!
In the USA, one feral cat colony went from over 300 cats to zero. It took more than a decade, but the community had the support of city council and the local chamber of commerce. Because of public irresponsibility, not all colonies will go to zero as more cats are dumped ruthlessly on the streets all the time. This is now illegal in many areas (failing to provide the necessities of life), but it still happens.
The great thing about TNR programs is that reproduction rates drop dramatically. It also stops the endless cycle of "catch and kill". Shortly after a colony of cats is exterminated, new cats will move in and the undesired behaviors will commense all over again. TNR means that the number of shelter admissions decreases, helping to reduce the burden on shelter resources.
If your town or city proposes a feeding ban, stand up and organize to oppoose it. Do your research on the cost-benefit of TNR, and the probable illegality of a feeding ban. Meet with people concerned in your community, get organized for the long-run, and set up meetings with city councilors. Make your arguments clearly and concisely. Listen to the councilor and answer his/her questions. Make sure they can contact you for further information if they have new conserns that might arise.
If you are a prospective large donor to a shelter, find out what their TNR program is and what their policies are (e.g. if a single cat tests positive on a single test for feline leukemia or FIV). Direct your donations to improving the program if the spaying and neutering is not fully subsidized for the colony caretakers. These people, often of modest incomes, spend a great deal of money to spay and neuter their animals, but they often breed faster than they can afford to spay and neuter them. Some colonies in a typical Canadian city can be as large as 300 cats. Not many people are going to pay for that! (Fortunately, most colonies consist of about 12-30 cats).
Do you have some advocacy and educational materials that Canadians who care about street cats might need or benefit from? Especially nice would be printable documents, such as doorhangers warning people to keep their pets inside on a trapping night (for TNR), flyers for neighbors, and presentation materials that could be used to leave with municipal politicians. If you have something ideal for this website, please contact us with the details! I can also put up PSAs, and youtube videos. I have asked permission to link to Allie Cat Allies in the USA, but some of their information materials do not apply to Canada. Especially usefull would be editable documents that people could send to their local printer for hopefully low-cost printing. If you are a professional graphic designer and would like to help, feel free to contact me and we can develop some tools for people who are out there helping the cats.
Thank you all for caring about the cats!