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I think it's great when people TNR, but I absolutely HATE hearing about people who are just feeding the colonies and thinking they're helping. All that does is grow the feral population, and it can quickly get out of hand.
Of course, a neighbor of mine was TNR'ing ferals for years, and before she moved out she had 9 cats, all oustide, that she was supporting. While I was all for her efforts at controlling the feral population, they were naturally outdoor cats, and we lived in a small apartment complex, so 1) the whole (dirt) back area was a litterbox and smelled HORRIBLE, to the point where you could smell it in the two closest apartments on either side anytime the windows were open- most of the year in SoCal! 2) anytime someone new moved in with a cat of their own the ferals would terrorize them (everyone had indoor cats, but they'd stalk around the front porches/back doors and harass them). Two neighbors that moved in with (fixed) indoor male cats suddenly had them start spraying all over their apartments in response, which they had never done before.
Her situation would probably have been tenable had she been living in the suburbs with houses spread out from each other, or more ideally in the country with lots of land, but in a dense urban environment it was pretty inappropriate.
I moved away from there a couple of years ago, and just moved back- but only after I found out she had moved away and taken the cats with her.
I guess my long-winded point is, I think it's admirable that people want to help the feline population, and I'm a cat lover and as much of a sucker for a stray or an animal in distress as anyone (I've saved a few in my time), but sometimes I think folks (in their zeal to save our furry friends) forget that they are living amongst other humans, too. The cats were saved but the people that had to live around her mere miserable. Gotta be a happy medium!
Jenkay - what happened to the 9 cats? At least they were neutered and a relatively finite number. I suppose she had to continue to neuter as peopled moved out and abandoned their cats?
I think it's great when people TNR, but I absolutely HATE hearing about people who are just feeding the colonies and thinking they're helping. All that does is grow the feral population, and it can quickly get out of hand.
Agree! As mentioned above, it is best to sterilize the population to stop the constant flow of kittens. New cats won't move into an already populated area.
Yes, we are doing a TNR operation soon here. They are waiting for the kittens to get big enough to take them. I wish they'd come sooner, these cats are driving me nuts, not to mention one is looking fat-ish. Anyhow, it was hard for me to call the rescue group. Another part of me just wanted to call animal control just to tick off my neighbor. But I don't hate these cats, I just want them controlled and off my porch.
Jenkay - what happened to the 9 cats? At least they were neutered and a relatively finite number. I suppose she had to continue to neuter as peopled moved out and abandoned their cats?
Like I said in my post, she took them with her when she moved.
While I was here no one abandoned any cats.
Her heart was totally in the right place, but the cats turned out to be a bit of a pain in everyone's butts. We all liked her, but were glad to see her taking them with when she left
I'm perfectly ok with growing colonies of feral cats. Their population will normalize based on available food and predators. That is as it should be. I would like to see TNR for squirrels however.
I'm perfectly ok with growing colonies of feral cats. Their population will normalize based on available food and predators. That is as it should be. I would like to see TNR for squirrels however.
LOL@Wilson. And yes, he (Wilson) does have a grain or two of truth here.
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