Our Community Cats Program assists both animals and people around our community by providing a variety of services to improve the lives of free-roaming and feral cats.
Community Cats are unowned cats that live outdoors in the community. They may be feral or friendly, may have been born into the wild, or may be lost or abandoned pets.
We work closely with the Street Cat Project of Polk County and the community to assist with free-roaming and feral cats, as well as aid for community members seeking help caring for both community cats.
Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return
TNR is an acronym for Trap-Neuter-Return, a humane method for managing colonies of free-roaming community cats. The process involves humanely trapping the cats, having them spayed or neutered and vaccinated by a veterinarian, and then returning them to their original location. This approach helps stabilize cat populations, prevents new litters, and improves the overall health of the colonies.
The TNR process
Trap: Community cats are humanely trapped in a designated area.
Neuter: The cats are taken to a veterinarian to be spayed (females) or neutered (males), a process that also includes vaccinations and a small tip removed from one ear to mark them as sterilized and vaccinated.
Return: After a short recovery period, the cats are returned to their original outdoor territory.
Benefits of TNR
Population control: Prevents the birth of new litters, thereby reducing the number of stray cats over the long term.
Healthier cats: Vaccinations protect against diseases, and sterilization eliminates the risk of certain cancers and unwanted behaviors associated with mating, such as fighting and yowling.
More stable colonies: Reduces the number of cats in a colony and prevents new animals from taking their place.
Improved community relations: Reduces nuisance behaviors like fighting and spraying.