Julie Posluns, Cat School
April 28, 2020
Arden Moore, Pet Health and Safety Coach
May 5, 2020
An Open Letter to Folks Who Trap Community Cats
I am concerned that there will be kittens and cats that need our help and we won’t be to help them. You might think I am crazy, as the whole world seems to want to be a foster home. Groups are complaining that they have way too many applications and don’t know what to do with them. Why can’t we “foster our way out of this”? Because those who are out trapping are already full of kittens and are waiting for spay/neuter to open up.
I believe that the TNR world is not ready for voucher adoptions and I see hesitancy from this group about handing over kittens to organizations that might be using vouchers. How can we streamline the pipeline between the fosters and the trappers? Would trappers feel more comfortable supervising the fosters and making sure that the kittens and mom cats get spay/neutered before they are released?
If you are someone who goes out and feeds cats, traps, and fosters, why is spay/neuter your obstacle? Are the local rescues and humane societies supporting you or are you staying away? It has taken years to build relationships between organizations, but now those relationships may be on hold.
I see a future where large, institutionalized shelters will have an even lower population of animals, and the local, foster-based rescues will be even more overwhelmed than they have been. Doors that were once open now seem to be closed—and may be slow to re-open again. This environment will put more pressure on the fragile community cat systems that we have in place in the hardest-to-reach communities. We have options and opportunities to get help to the community feeders and trappers (those on the front lines) with the many foster homes willing to help. How can we cross this bridge?
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To close, in honor of National Tabby Day…
…I want to share with you that my dear friend Hooch passed away a couple of weeks ago. Many of you have seen Hooch during our conferences and heard him in the background during my podcasts. For the past 10+ years, he has been my pal and best friend. I now live in a house without cats (a first since I was in college). I am not sure how I feel about all of this, but for now, my house is empty. I have taken to naming the local visiting Canada Geese who enjoy our pond (George and Gertrude). For those of you who have tabby cats please give them a hug for me in honor of the best tabby cat, Hooch.
