I say we just have to get used to it. All species eventually go extinct for some reason or another. Nothing we do will stop it. Especially since we caused the problem to begin with. The cats just took advantage of our carelessness.

As you point out, feral cats are like a plague to native small creatures.

And, as you implicitly point out, TNR will not solve that.

The only solution is euthanasia.

(P.S., Do the vets test for toxoplasmosis and destroy ferals that have it? If not, why not?)

Our TNR programs WILL NOT allow a sick cat to go back out on the street. They are tested for STD type deseases and Lukemia. Plus no cat can go back out with out a 3 year Rabese Vacine.

When I had my first cat done it cost hundreds of dollors, but when I adopted my 2 others (and my last too others - no I am not an old woman on the corner who is hording all the cats) I went to the shelter where the base cost was only $35 or so and we received a discount because we captured cats for them.

TNR is a program that could work as well as testing a few kids in each school and hope that all the TB was caught inside that school. A wiser solution would be to test everbody in the school and everybody who then moved into it.

Those who appose TNR say, “if we just kill all of the kats then we won’t have any cats to deal with.” But how do you really know that you have gotton all the cats? If just two are lucky enough to find a place to hide they could have several litters, and then those kittens will go and have litters of their own. So within 4 months your once “cat free society” is growing and growing fast! Also, If your neighboring community seems to be getting a little crowded to a groups of cats they will happily move to your town. Of course, remember all that stuff that you were so unhappy with the cats eating. Well, Cats eat a lot of things that you never know about that will start to take over - worms, lizards, frogs, grasshoppers - any sorce of protein that crawl or hops cats will eat.

I hope that your town rethinks its radifacation idea.

To wildlife biologists and other critics, the trap-and-release program is impracticable if not downright fraudulent, a Trojan Horse full of cats being shunted onto public lands.

First, they say, it is almost impossible to trap all feral cats within a given area at once. Indeed, a member of Happy Tails in Sacramento acknowledged to reporter Tracy Bryan of KCRA-TV that not a single cat had been captured in three colonies this cat group managed. Moreover, cats trapped once will tend to avoid a second experience, thus evading booster shots.

Second, feeding does not prevent hunting; in fact, it may increase the cat’s advantage over prey and native predators, including the great horned owl, long-tailed weasel, and gray fox.

Third, evidence is lacking that cats will band together to protect territory; indeed, there is much literature and observation to the contrary. “It’s common for new cats to show up at feeding stations,” said Ron Jurek of the Nongame Bird and Mammal Program, California Department of Fish and Game. The very existence of colonies attracts more cats as they become dumping grounds for unwanted pets.

Fourth, sterilization-a step universally applauded-does not appreciably reduce the feral cat population. Biologists Victor Chow and Peter Connors of the Bodega Marine Laboratory argued this point to the city of Santa Rosa in attempting to dissuade it from accepting the TTVAR program. There will always be nonsterile cats around, they said; the program really only enhances the survival rate of kittens.

By wildlife I mean native animals. Feral cats are not native and, as introduced apex predators, do immeasurable harm to native, often endangered, species. They also serve as a major vector for disease, not least toxoplasmosis which, in turn, is killing endangered California sea otters.

For proponents of trap-neuter-release, it is their job to scientifically demonstrate that their approach actually reduces cat population numbers as opposed to catch-and-euthanize. To me, at least, it is logically impossible that the former is more effective than the latter. But I would welcome links to experiments that demonstrate its effectiveness… someone said there was one in the comments, but they didn’t provide any links to it.

Where have you gotten information of TNR being ineffective?

Do you think this will solve the problem, if the people continue to do spay and neuter?

What is your distinction between wiildlife and wild, living feral cats?

Thanks for your response.

I have checked lots of sources on feral cats and TNR. There are zero scientific studies that show that TNR is at all effective at reducing or “stabilizing” populations!

Duh.