Community Cats

Pearl River County and other communities across the country participate in TNR as the most effective and humane approach to addressing overpopulation in outdoor cats.  Trap-Neuter-Release services address community concerns, reduce complaints, and stops the breeding cycle by providing spay/neuter surgeries to outdoor cats and returning cats to their outdoor homes.  TNR is a simple, effective way to eliminate unnecessary euthanasia of healthy cats that are not suitable for adoption and improve the lives of outdoor cats in our community.

What is a community cat?

“Community cat” is an umbrella term that refers to any cat who is unowned and lives outdoors.  These cats often live in colonies and can be found in a variety of locations such as neighborhoods, businesses, and rural areas. Community cats display a wide range of behaviors and have differing degrees of socialization. Understanding a cat’s level of comfort around humans will help you determine the best way to support an outdoor cat’s best interest. Not all outdoor cats are lost, nor would they make good adoption candidates.  For this reason, we highly encourage community members to seek TNR services for community cats instead of scheduling a surrender appointment.  More on socialization here.

Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) Program

We encourage the public to participate in Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs, which are the most humane and effective way to manage and reduce the population of community cats. TNR involves humanely trapping community cats, having them spayed or neutered, vaccinated, ear-tipped, and then returning them to their outdoor homes. Ear-tipping is the universal sign that an outdoor cat has received TNR services.  This helps to prevent repeated trapping of the same animal.  This approach helps to stabilize and eventually reduce the cat population over time.

Benefits of TNR:

Population Control

Spaying and neutering prevent the birth of more kittens, effectively reducing the number of community cats.

Healthier Cats

Vaccinated and sterilized cats are healthier and less likely to spread diseases.

Improved Community Relations

TNR reduces nuisance behaviors associated with unaltered cats, such as yowling, fighting, and spraying.