Animal (cat) advocates would like nothing better than to have a save and loving home for every cat. Unfortunately, the current animal sheltering model has not focus on spay/neuter. This is especially true for cats.
For decades, dogs have been the focus of sheltering policies and laws. Cats have been ignored. When cats are abandoned to the streets unfixed it quickly created more unfixed cats. Today, there are so many homeless cats and cats people want to surrender, there are just not enough placements for them all.
Many animal shelters have decreased their cat intake through managed (limited) intake. Rescues are full of cats. And there are just not enough homes for them all. So many of these cats are abandoned to the streets. For years, shelters addressed this by trapping and killing cats. But there were and are so many cats and they reproduce so quickly. They could not kill enough cats to make a dent on their population.
Until our animal sheltering policies change and focus on the plight of our cats, there will be more cats not fewer. And more cats will have to call the outdoors their home. Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return (TNVR) is the best option we have. Fixing and vaccinating these homeless and unowned cats will reduce their population humanely through attrition. It’s our best hope to make sure that every cat that needs a home can find one.
Community Cats United Inc.