The National Geographic Society supports such excellent work, so I don’t understand how they can print a blog in their Cat Watch section called “TNR is Dangerous to Cats and Other Animals.” The blog was authored by Daphna Nachminovitch, senior vice president of cruelty investigations for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which makes what you are about to read predictable but not ethical or factually correct.
There’s no explanation in the story of what TNR (or trap-neuter-return) is. So to begin, let me explain: TNR program volunteers trap individual cats from community cat colonies. The cats are spay/neutered, then returned to the colony, where reproduction ends. They are also vaccinated for rabies (hence the newer term, TNVR—the V is for vaccinate). Where there is no shelter to protect cats from the elements, a shelter is created, and is supplemented with food, since these cats aren’t as inclined to hunt wildlife. Also, kittens already in the colony are hand-reared and adopted out to families. Meanwhile, over time, colony numbers diminish.
Here are small excerpts of Ms. Nachminovitch’s blog post and some of her views followed by mine.
“People who consider themselves ‘cat lovers,’ including proponents of trap-neuter-release (TNR) —programs that sterilize but then abandon domestic cats and so should more aptly be called ‘trap-neuter-abandon.” She writes about how outdoor cats seek to slither under car engines for warmth in winter and may be cut to shreds as a result, or die of feline leukemia or the feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV).
My comment: It’s true that cats can become mangled when seeking out car engines for warmth. Tragically, many of these cats are owned pets, and a reason why I strongly support all owned cats are kept inside only. While this sad fate may happen to some community cats, a part of any TNVR program is to provide shelter. What does the author propose we do with these cats instead? If nothing is done, and volunteer caretakers don’t provide a shelter, aren’t they even more likely to succumb to the elements? You are right about the transmission of feline leukemia and FIV. When delivered to the veterinarian for spay/neuter, obviously ill cats are treated or euthanized (depending on the illness, and extent of the illness).
“PETA’s files are bursting with cases in which cats who were put outdoors without supervision, including those in ‘managed colonies,’ have been shot, poisoned, drowned, bludgeoned, or even set on fire by cruel people who view them as easy targets or ‘pests’ and don’t want them climbing on their cars or defecating in their yards.”
My comment: If you do nothing, the community colony cat numbers remain stable or increase. If you implement TNVR, the population gradually diminishes, and ultimately there are no community cats in this place to become targets.
Someone poured acid on this cat. It’s not OK, and the person should be prosecuted. Getting rid of all the cats is not the answer.
Aren’t there laws against animal abuse? Also, we know that people intentionally cruel to animals are far more likely to commit crimes against humans. Perhaps the cats aren’t as much of an issue as the people committing these crimes. And they are crimes. Instead of prosecuting the cats, why not prosecute the people responsible for animal cruelty?
“TNR programs are doomed to failure because of basic population dynamics: Even if all of the cats in a colony are eventually spayed and neutered (which is nearly impossible), the food set out for them will always attract new cats.”
This is untrue on all accounts All cats in a colony can be spayed/neutered. It happens all the time. And the fact is that cats are territorial. So only with caution and over a period of many weeks or longer will an individual cat enter a colony. The author of this story should study population dynamics of community cats. Also, just because I put food out doesn’t mean cats will automatically appear. Cats are not ants who individually find food and then call all their friends over to feast. Though cats live together in colonies, cats hunt and dine as individuals.
“And feeding cats also promotes abandonment, since people are more inclined to abandon their cats if they believe that someone else will ‘take care of’ them.”
My comment: What? I want to see the study supporting this notion. So, I will give up my beloved pets if I think someone else will “take care of them?” I have no idea how that conceivably might be true.
The author of the Nat Geo blog quotes Dr. Michael Fox, who notes that outdoor cats are going to suffer from injuries and disease, kill wildlife, and pose a public health risk because of the diseases they can transmit to humans. Also mentioned: 24 billion birds in the U.S. die each year due to feline predation, which is by far the largest human cause of death toll on birds.
My comment: There’s truth mixed into nonsense here. Yes, outdoor cats certainly may suffer from injuries and diseases that indoor cats never need to deal with. And, Dr. Fox actually forgets to mention parasites, which indoor cats are hopefully protected against. Of course, indoor-only cats are not going to be chased down by coyotes, hit by cars, or suffer from tick disease. But millions of cats are outdoors now. So what do you do with them? Is there a better solution? And, incidentally, experts concur that habitat destruction and pollution kill far more songbirds than cats do. As for killing more than 24 billion songbirds in the U.S. annually: We never had 24 billion songbirds in the U.S. Sadly, around 15 million songbirds do die as a result of outdoor cats, which is not good, but it’s a far cry from 24 billion. Also, there’s no mention of the benefit community cats provide killing vermin and even city rats.
Catching birds isn’t easy. In truth, most cats prefer rodents or rabbits.
“Trapping and abandoning cats is hazardous to all involved, certainly including the cats themselves. Homeless cats deserve to be treated like any other cat. They deserve a chance to be adopted into a loving home or, if that isn’t possible, to be peacefully euthanized in a safe and quiet environment, rather than turned out onto the street to fight daily battles for survival that they will ultimately lose. Cat abandonment is illegal because it’s inhumane, and it’s not the answer to the homeless-cat crisis. The answer is to require that all cats be spayed and neutered, licensed, microchipped, and kept indoors.”
My comment: I’m not understanding at all how trapping cats is a hazard to cats. TNVR has been going on for decades, and there are virtually no instances of cats not benefiting from it. Being trapped is stressful, but the alternative is to trap and euthanize, which several studies demonstrate the public does not want. There’s also a financial cost to euthanization, and you don’t address who is going to pay for this.
Trapping and euthanizing cats does not work. If it did work, I would not be writing this article now. The idea isn’t practical, as animal control budgets have been cut in most communities, and most departments don’t have the resources to do what it would take to trap enough cats to even extinguish a single colony. What’s more, cats (that literally repopulate like rabbits) fill the vacuum of the trapped and euthanized cats in no time.
I’m not sure who supports cat abandonment, as you suggest. Of course, it is illegal, and we agree that it should be.
However, the ultimate answer is not to require all cats are spay/neutered, licensed, microchipped, and kept inside only. If pet owners did this, this problem would be far less severe. Though you offer nothing to address the current number of community cats, estimated from 25 million to 85 million in America (about .5 to 1.5 times the number of owned cats).
So, like the many posts and media reports I’ve read criticizing TNVR, you’ve not offered an alternative solution.
6 Comments
Hi Steve! I am president of Community Cats United, Inc. (Trap-Neuter-Return Community). We have over 17,000 members and 1,000 groups in 107 countries and all 50 US states, standing together for community cats. Thank you for calling out National Geographic and supporting our cats. These cats are here because humans abandoned them. National Geographic apparently does not do their homework on the people they feature as “experts”. Its sad that such a respected magazine was taken by lies because if they had researched it, they would be saying TNR works. Do your homework people- research, understand and think.
I most certainly did my homework. But apparently, you never did any of it.
Here’s a clue for you: The very same reason that trap & kill fails is the very same reason that TNR fails. You just cannot trap them faster than they breed, are dumped by criminally irresponsible pet-owners, or as fast as they out-adapt to any trapping method ever invented by man. ANY method dependent on trapping is doomed to fail before you even start. But hunted-to-extinction most certainly works. It even worked on something as small and prolific as The Rocky Mountain Locust that used to darken the skies of half of N. America at one time. But a simple 50-cent per bushel bounty on them made them no more. It’ll work even better on community-vermin cats.
Here too is glaring proof of how, as cat-hoarders so often and mindlessly respew, “Trap-Neuter-Release is the most effective means of managing feral cat populations. In fact, it is the only proven way to do so.”
The residents of the UK who invented TNR in the 1950’s have been relentlessly practicing that failed ideology nationwide for over 60 years now. And all they have managed to do with TNR is DOUBLE their vermin cat populations — from 4.1 million vermin cats in 1965 to 8.1 million vermin cats in 2015. (One site claims 10.5 million today!) And to help, all this time they are still killing them in shelters and legally shooting them in rural areas under their animal depredation-control laws. By foolishly hoping and praying that their very own TNR concept will reduce vermin cat populations someday they have now even driven their one and only NATIVE cat species to extinction with their invasive-species vermin “moggies” (feral house-cats) — with less than 19 “Scottish Wildcats” left in the whole world. (Along with 421 other species that they have already made extinct in the UK in the last 200 years — OVER TWO SPECIES PER YEAR GONE FOREVER just due to British cultural beliefs, practices, and values.) All the while they still insist that practicing their failed TNR policies will still save their “Scottish Wildcat” from being wiped from the earth forever. You can kiss their “Scottish Wildcat” good-bye too now because 19 individuals is not even enough RNA diversity for a viable/successful species anymore — they are already EXTINCT. (Laughably ironic if it weren’t so pathetically, globally, and permanently sad. The population of the UK have made themselves into the ecological-laughingstocks of the whole world.)
Nice plan. TNR sure does work, doesn’t it!
You know that saying about doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. The British have proved the failure of their vermin cat-insanity for over 60 years now. You too can be just as ecologically destructive, ignorant, and just as insane as the inbred mentalities of the Toxoplasma gondii brain-damaged moggie-licking British by practicing and promoting their failed-belief in their TNR concept.
Here too are some wonderful quotes from an article published by their most revered TNR promoters — the very “scientists” that TNR imbeciles always quote out of context to try to support their TNR insanity. Read it and weep.
“Virtually no information exists to support the contention that neutering is an effective long-term method for controlling free-roaming cat populations.”
“Free-roaming cats do not appear to have sufficient territorial activity to prevent new arrivals from permanently joining colonies.”
Levy, Julie K., David W. Gale, and Leslie A. Gale. “Evaluation of the Effect of a Long-Term Trap-Neuter-Return and Adoption Program on a Free-Roaming Cat Population.” Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 2003, 222(1)
Or these comments from Julie K. Levy’s other study::
“In both counties, results of analyses did not indicate a consistent reduction in per capita growth, the population multiplier, or the proportion of female cats that were pregnant.”
“Implementation of the stage-structured model suggested that no plausible combinations of life history variables would likely allow for TNR to succeed in reducing population size, although neutering approximately 75% of the cats could achieve control (which is unrealistic), a value quite similar to results in the present study.”
Levy, Julie K; “Analysis of the impact of trap-neuter-return programs on populations of feral cats”
Pretty damning conclusion regarding the efficacy of TNR.
“No plausible combinations…. would likely allow for TNR to succeed…”.
In other words – It can’t work.
BONUS INFO:
Here’s a good site for them to dream about at night. It shows how their “loving and humane” euthanasia by “TNR attrition” works to reduce cat populations by their supporting, promoting, and practicing TNR. A wonderful compendium of pages and pages of photographs and articles on how they truly help anyone’s unwanted and 100%-expendable cats.
realoutdoorcats . tumblr . Com /
(remove all spaces from obfuscated-for-posting URL)
Enjoy!!! 🙂
After you view all the photos and read all the articles on that site, I hope you come back and tell us all about that concept of “humane” that you use when promoting TNR and how much that you truly love cats. I wonder how many of your and your friends’ cats ended-up photographed on that site, all due to YOU telling everyone to practice TNR. I hope all your TNR “friends” come back and tell you how wonderful they think they all are now. 🙂
I have a solution, a long-term solution. It’s not very popular. No one wants to hear it. Go vegan. If you are not vegan you are part of the problem, no matter how many cats you TNR or find homes for.
We need to change society’s attitudes toward animals. That begins with those who regard species besides dogs and cats as “things” … commodities for consumption. When the paradigm changes that animals (and I mean all animals) are expendable, then and only then will the problem with homeless animals be ameliorated, or hopefully, a thing of the past.
The animal rescue community is riddled with speciesism and moral inconsistency. Basically non-vegan rescuers are indulging in a mere fetish for cats, or dogs. It is a cluster-fuck of neurotic people using animals emotionally also. The toll I see it take on the humans doing it is dysfunctional and unhealthy.
How can you expect the problem with abandoned animals to get better, when you have no compassion for other species? Good luck with that.
You should move out to the country, and watch in the autumn as ammonia-gas-clouds waft across the setting-sun, from the 100% anhydrous liquid-ammonia (we’re not talking about that 2%-3% ammonia-water that you buy in your store) pumped into the soils of millions and millions of acres of croplands, that are used to grow vegan diets. Millions upon millions of animals gassed-to-death every year with 100%-ammonia-gas in their lungs (a most excruciating way for anything to die), just so vegans like you can sit there pretending you are holier than thou as you chomp on your slimy-curds of tofu. This doesn’t count all the habitat loss from turning those lands into deserts to only feed vegans and no other animals on earth. Guess how many native animals have soybeans on their diets and survive by soybeans alone? Only to have those that managed to live there that year and any offspring gassed-to-death that coming fall or have the crop rotated next year to something that is equally off their diets so the next generation just starves to death, ammonia-gas or no. Yeah, you’re all wonderful vegans who don’t harm any animals, aren’t you.
Do you even read the label on your cat’s food? How many animals did you pay others to kill for you, just this year alone? How many animals did your cats, and those cats that you support being outdoors, torture to death just so you can say, “Awwwww… such a good hunter you are! That’s a good kitty!” The only result of which was to make your own selves feel good, no other reason.
The only question I never find an answer for, is why any of you self-deceptive vegans were ever born in the very first place. Think how many animals’ lives would be saved from suffering to death each year if you all removed yourselves from the planet — thousands upon thousands of innocent animals who die for your vegan dinner-plate. But no, you still think that it’s even safe for vegans to keep breeding because you do no harm. Guess again. You’re some of the most destructive humans alive on the planet, especially if they promote the existence of even more vegans and your vermin cats. Killing animals at a rate that is 1,000 times higher than any other faction of humanity. How nice of you.
Why are you here? Someone’s great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparents should have been rendered sterile.
H. sapiens, by their very genetics, by their millennia of evolution, are a hunter/gatherer omnivore species. Not only are you born a hunter, but you are by nature, determined to kill animals. Just like you pay others to destroy all those animals to then cram their tortured dead bodies into bags, boxes, and cans to feed your vermin cats for you. You are no less of a destroyer of animals than any other human. You can drive yourself into a locked-ward for your psychotic and desperate attempt to deny that you were born a human, but until you come out of your mother’s fetid gash born as an herbivore you’re only playing a dangerous and mentally ill game of self-deception. And even then, they found out that herbivores like deer and other animals occasionally kill other animals to eat meat. (remove spaces from obfuscated-for-posting URL) io9 . com / field-cameras-catch-deer-eating-birds-wait-why-do-deer-1689440870
Even herbivores think that bambi-cartoon-educated psychotic vegan humans like you are total whack-jobs. And rightly so. Human-vegans suffer from permanent and irreversible brain-damage caused by an all-vegetable diet. Just like what happens to your vermin cats that die or go permanently and irreversibly blind from a vegan diet. If you want to be an herbivore (or employ an even more restricted diet of a “vegan”), then you must evolve a few extra ruminant stomachs so you can upchuck your cud to chew-on during the Late-Late-Show, or practice coprophagy like most smaller herbivores like rabbits and others do — eating your own feces to extract the proteins formed in them by the bacteria in your gut — there to digest all that cellulose. So the next time that someone yells at you moron vegans to “EAT SHIT! YOU STUPID FUCKING VEGAN!”, just know that we are only wishing for you a better mental, emotional, and physical health. 🙂
(correction: are not expendable — are moral persons)