Tarazet

National Feral Cat Day?

I'm not sure I agree with some of this article:

Feral cats are those that might have been a stray at some point in their lives or those that have been born into the life of a feral colony. These cats want nothing to do with humans, and it's difficult, if not impossible, to tame them. These cats often will form a colony near a food source and continue to breed and expand in their numbers. Feral cats are not adoptable and are usually the first to be put to sleep in shelters. There are several ways you can be a part of National Feral Cat Day. You can support Trap-Neuter-Return in your community. This is the most humane way to handle feral cat colonies. With Trap-Neuter-Return, cats will be trapped, altered and returned to the area. Undesirable behavior will be averted, and no more kittens will be born. As the method is implemented, the feral cat numbers will gradually decline.

Become a feral colony caretaker. Provide food and clean water to the cats to prevent them from rummaging through trash cans and so they will have the nutrients they need to stay healthy and build a strong immune system to help fight off sickness and disease.

Trapping and neutering is fine but I'm not sure about providing food and water. Yes, it would seem the humane thing to do but you only encourage others to join the colony and unless you trap all of them, the breeding will continue and there will just be more misery.

I'm not sure what the correct answer is but there are already too many uncared for cats in the world.

Posted by Jeff Soyer at October 17, 2006 12:10 AM