Alternative approach to Feral Cat management

Rising, G. R. Feral Cat Problems: A Reconsideration of Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return and An Alternative Approach.

Cat TNVR (Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return) is widely proposed as a response to problems with feral cats. Unfortunately the R of that acronym, returning the cats into the environment from which they were trapped, creates serious problems: feral cat communities are established where cats are fed and protected by volunteers but otherwise continue to range free. Research shows many negative results of this: (1) these cats continue to kill birds and mammals at an alarming rate; (2) the process not only does not, as widely claimed, reduce the number of feral cats but instead often increases their population; (3) availability of the colonies encourages abandonment of additional house pets; (4) despite vaccination there are human and wildlife health risks associated with feral cats; and (5) the process is very expensive and, because the cat population is not reduced, these costs do not decline over time. A proposal for the removal of feral cats from the environment through containment is offered as an alternative.