What is the Feral trap-neuter-release program?

Feral cats are wild and untamed cats, primarily the result of pet owners' abandonment or failure to spay and neuter their animals, allowing them to breed uncontrolled. Here in Killeen we have a great number of these colonies, unbeknownst to many residents. Downtown alone has around 20 known colonies which are tended to by various individuals and volunteer groups.

Our goal is to catch the adult cats, spay or neuter them and release them back to their “neighborhood.”

Why do we use this method?

An estimated sixty million feral cats live in the United States today. Local animal control often try to eliminate them by trapping and killing. This does not work. Instead of reducing their numbers, killing makes room for new cats to move in and the breeding process begins all over again. So does the suffering. Half of all kittens born into these colonies die soon after birth. Their mothers spend most of their lives pregnant and hungry. Unneutered tom cats roam across busy roads seeking mates, getting in fights: untreated wounds can eventually kill them.

Many people assume their animals will survive when they move away and leave them behind, abandon them in streets. Contrary to popular belief, domestic animals do not automatically return to their "natural" instincts and cannot fend for themselves! Already, U.S. animal shelters are forced to kill an estimated 15 million homeless cats and dogs annually. The alternative to humane euthanasia for almost every stray is a violent end or slow, painful death. Many "throwaways" die mercilessly outdoors from starvation, disease, abuse --- or as food to a predator.

It provides a long term solution. Releasing fixed cats back onto the street, means that we are not only preventing the production of kittens, we are also 'vaccinating' the streets from an influx of new, unfixed cats. The colonies are marked territory for the “residents, and newcomers are not necessarily welcome, especially if the food supply is sufficient, and no additions to the colony are needed for “hunting purposes.”. Due to this territorial behavior, we feel that the TNR program is much more effective than just rounding up all the feral cats and having them destroyed.

Stable colonies are cleaner, since the cat is by nature a “neat freak” about their habitation

It saves money! To dispose of a cat generally costs about $50 per animal. To fix, vaccinate and release an animal through low cost spay and neuter programs, the cost can be as little as $35 per animal or even less with a bulk discount

More humane. People are much, much more likely to support a feral release program than a round-up for killing the cats.

The photos to the right were all taken in various areas of Killeen on July 19, 2005