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P.O. Box 1036
Bowie, MD 20718
(301) 262-6452
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Last Updated:
7/24/2014 6:10 PM
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Important Information about
Free-roaming Cats
in your Neighborhood

Where do they come from?

For centuries humans have been domesticating cats to be companion animals. But, humans don't always assume the appropriate responsibility for their dependent pets.

Some people fail to spay or neuter their pets. They may also allow them to roam freely outside. Sometimes the pets get lost or run away. Sometimes humans tire of their pets or abandon them when they move away.

Free-roaming cats live together in groups where there is a source of food and shelter. The food sources are generally rodents, like mice and moles, but sometimes rats and snakes.

Don't cats eat birds?

Yes, but very seldom.

By far, the greatest threat to the bird population is the loss of habitat caused by human development.

Another cause of the loss of bird population is predation by other birds like hawk, owls, etc.

The small impact that free-roaming cats have on the bird population can be reduced by reducing  the number of cats that are free-roaming.

They are a nuisance!

Yes, intact cats can be a bother. Their social structure is a hierarchy and their hormones cause them to be constantly fighting for the top position. They can spray urine to assert their control of an area, and they often howl and fight.

I just want them GONE!

This is often the first thought of a person who has free-roaming cats in the neighborhood, but it would be better to have a second thought before making a mistake.

Remember, the cats are there because there is a food source to support them. Do you like rats? Mice? If the cats are not there to control the population of rodents, the rodent population will explode. The cats are performing a service to the neighborhood by controlling the less desirable rodent population and all that comes with it.

Remember in the middle ages when humans killed all of the cats because they thought they were evil? Remember the plague that killed 30% of the population of Europe in the following generation? The removal of the cats allowed the rat population to explode, which carried the fleas that carried the plague, which killed the humans. A hard lesson to learn.

What is being done, now?

Humans have been trying to control the population of free-roaming cats by trapping and killing for some time, now. The effect has been clearly documented. When the cats are removed from an area, the food source thrives, then, because there are no cats in the area to defend it from others, the cats in the surrounding areas move in. Since the food source is so much more abundant, the cats reproduce at an even greater rate than the original occupants. The end result is more cats than there were in the beginning. This approach has proven itself to be costly and not only ineffective, but even counter-productive.

So, what works?

The newer approach, and the only one that has been demonstrated to be effective and humane, is Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR).

This means a group of cats is trapped using a humane trap, taken to a veterinarian to be sterilized, and returned to the location where they were trapped. Some of the cats can be removed for adoption into homes, to the extent that homes are available. A dedicated caretaker, or even better, a team of neighbors, looks after the cats that remain to be sure that any new entries to the group are also trapped and sterilized.

But what about the bad behavior?

When the cats are sterilized, the hormone levels are reduced. The drives that caused the bad behavior are reduced. Sterilized cats seldom behave in the way that intact cats do, so far as spraying, howling, fighting, etc. because those habits are related to mating and social position.

So what SHOULD I do?

Join an effort to control the population of free-roaming cats in a humane manner. There are a variety of things that you can do to help.

The Prince Georges Feral Friends offers information about the free-roaming cat issue in the form of meetings and workshops, free to the public, in Cat Rescue, Humane Trapping Techniques and Socialization.

If you have free-roaming cats in your neighborhood, you might want to become a dedicated caretaker. P.G.F.F. can teach you all that you need to know about doing this.

You might like to foster a cat that has been socialized and is waiting for a home, or you could assist someone else who is fostering in their home.

With some training that P.G.F.F. can provide, you can actually socialize a feral cat and prepare a loving companion for a new indoor  home.

There are also many things that must be done in order to run the organization that supports all of these activities. You might like to take responsibility for a task that doesn't involve a hands-on relationship with cats.

Other projects that P.G.F.F. undertakes include, public relations, advertising meetings and seminars, fundraising, grantwriting, ... a whole host of activities.

Free-roaming cats need to have veterinary care. Cats in foster homes need supplies. These cost money. You can help by contributing to defray these costs. All donations to Prince Georges Feral Friends are tax deductible. Donate with a credit card on the P.G.F.F. web site or use payroll deduction with United Way/CFC or Maryland Charities.

Get involved. The cats can't speak for themselves. We must speak for them. You'll feel good about it, too.

If you have read this information and would like to learn more about the P.G.F.F. program of Trap-Neuter-Return, but have questions, contact Us:

Send email to Tim Saffell  or Linda Saffell  .