A survey in the United States of 1,011 people revealed that the surveyed Americans prefer the trap-neuter-return (TNR) approach to control the population of unowned “community” cats. The TNR initiatives in the United States have had a high success rate because they reflect community values. More details on the survey can be found here.
British Columbia has suffered with feline overpopulation for many years which the BC SPCA has been tackling along with rescue groups, humane organizations, veterinarians, and other animal lovers. TNR is one of the ways British Columbia is trying to reduce the feral cat population. Feral cats can often suffer from illness, injuries, starvation, frostbite, and predator attacks. Amy Morris (BC SPCA Policy and Outreach Officer) feels that Canadian attitudes towards community cats are similar to those found in the United States. Morris states, “Many cat lovers provide food, water and shelter for the cruelly abandoned felines, but they lack the financial resources to pay for spay and neuter surgeries.”
In 2014, $80,000 was allocated towards helping community cats and another $80,000 will be allocated in 2015. The BC SPCA is dedicated towards the success of their initiative and is ensuring that all of the cats in a colony or community are sterilized. This success is possible due to help from the communities themselves. Morris says. “They [communities] have shown that by working together, British Columbians are capable of solving the problem of cat overpopulation.”
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