Feral cats are not abandoned pet cats
Teresa Chagrin of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wrongly dismisses Trap-Neuter-Return in her March 5 letter and confuses the difference between feral cats, who are unsocialized to humans and therefore cannot be brought indoors or adopted, and owned pet cats.
Despite her description, feral cats are not homeless; their homes are outdoors where they live and thrive. Unowned feral cats have always been a part of the natural environment outdoors, dating back over 10,000 years ago. It wasn’t even practical for cats to come inside homes as companion animals until spay and neuter services and kitty litter became widely available in the last century.
TNR is the humane and effective approach for managing families of feral cats. TNR includes trapping, spaying or neutering, vaccinating, and returning feral cats to their outdoor home and habitat, which is their natural environment. Returning these cats to the outdoor homes where they belong is far different from animal abandonment. Many municipalities around the nation are increasingly adopting TNR because it is sound public policy.
Feral cats are part of our landscape and always will be. We have a responsibility to find compassionate ways to coexist with all the animals that live amongst us. Suggesting that feral cats should be removed from their outdoor homes into shelters where they will ultimately be killed is not compassionate and no way to ethically treat animals.
Becky Robinson, President and founder of Alley Cat Allies, Bethesda, Maryland
This story was originally published April 14, 2017 at 11:45 PM with the headline "Feral cats are not abandoned pet cats."