TNRM, A New Acronym for Stray Cats

I have long been a great fan of return to field programs. Without even knowing what return to field was, MRFRS was running free spay/neuter clinics for feral cats. Anyone could bring a cat in a trap to our monthly clinics and get them spay/neutered, vaccinated and ear tipped for free. We still have these clinics currently. We don’t ask many questions, basically we just want to know what town the cat is from. Unfortunately, we aren’t microchipping the cats, but maybe that will change.

My thoughts turned back to the question of “Is return to field enough?” when I read Dr. Margaret Slater’s blog post about how to get to zero population growth. Below is the link to the full article, but I agreed with her theme of management of the colonies in the community you are working in. This quote supports the efforts that I try to promote with the groups that I am working with:

“If a TNR group can partner with a group that can do the foster and adoption, reducing the population by removal as well as sterilization is the way to go!”

We need to have dedicated targeted TNR groups that are on the ground getting to know members of the community. They also need to be working with them to create a sustainable cat management program and a partnership with adoption focused organizations that can help with kittens, friendlies and the newly abandoned or lost.

I am recommending we start promoting a new acronym for the organizations that practice TNRM. M is for management. This means that there is always a safety net in place for the cats that are released and for any newcomers. There is a relationship that is ongoing with the colony caretakers and community partnership. When you have this relationship in place, you will have a very successful and dramatic decrease in the number of free-roaming cats and kittens in your community. You can easily become a “Kitten-free” zone in a year or two!

Many people feel like we will never get there, but you can. What do you think about adding management (M) with TNR? Let me know your thoughts on our Facebook page.

Finally, here is a link to Margaret’s interview with me and feel free to check it out if you haven’t. Also, make sure to check out Margaret Slater’s blog!

Announcements:

If your organization needs assistance increasing your live release rate you might be interested in reaching out to Target Zero. They were just awarded a very large grant from Maddies Fund so that they can reach more communities achieve the goal of 90% save rate. I did two Community Cats Podcasts with the folks from Target Zero. Feel free to have a listen to the podcasts with Cameron Moore and Dr. Sara Pizano!

I also did a podcast with Mary Ippoliti-Smith and Dr. Sheila D’Arpino from Maddies Fund and if you don’t know about them you can find out everything you need to know by listening to this podcast episode.

Take a peek at the press release about the new partnership! I am excited to see what happens!

Have a great week!