A recent article that described the way Orangeburg County Animal Control deals with stray and feral cats showed that the agency is adhering to policies that only perpetuate the unfortunate problem of feral cat overpopulation and the endless cycle of killing (Cat trap fever, 6/14). This is a tragedy, because in cities both large and small across the country, animal control agencies have taken a more progressive approach to addressing feral cat overpopulation and are saving lives and saving taxpayer dollars in the process.

While county officials may believe that vaccinating and spaying/neutering feral cats will be costly to the public, they fail to note that the public is already paying the cost for animal control to send a trapper into an area, catch a cat, hold the cat for three days while feeding and sheltering her, and then killing her and disposing of her body. This process is far more costly to taxpayers than vaccinating and spaying/neutering a cat and returning her to the area that she knew to be her home.

The program of Trap, Neuter, Return (TNR) has proven successful in reducing feral cat populations and virtually eliminating many of the nuisance complaints that are associated with groups of feral cats, known as “colonies.” Under the TNR program, feral cats are trapped by either animal control or volunteers, brought to a veterinarian, where they are spayed/neutered, vaccinated and “ear-tipped” for identification. After a period of recovery that generally lasts two to three days, the cat is then returned to his or her colony, where she will resume living under the watchful eye of a caregiver who volunteers to provide food, water and shelter for the cats in the colony every day.

TNR is a win-win situation for both the cats and the community. The cats are neutered and vaccinated, thus reducing the population and eliminating the potential spread of disease, and taxpayers are relieved of the burden of having animal control pick up, kill and dispose of feral cats on a continuing basis. Feeding bans and killing cats cannot reduce feral cat populations, as evidenced by the waste of tax dollars and the piles of dead cats that accumulate in towns and cities that do not take a humane approach to feral cat overpopulation. TNR stops the killing because it stops the breeding; when the cats no longer breed, their populations diminish over time. TNR is a humane solution and its time is now. To learn what you can do to help feral cats in your community, please contact Alley Cat Allies at www.alleycat.org.

— Joe Miele, President, The Committee to Abolish Sport Hunting Maywood, N.J.

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