Failed Alternatives to

Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR)



1. Vacuum Effect

When cats are trapped and removed from an area, new cats will move in to take advantage of the shelter & food sources. Unsterilized survivors remain and will overbreed.


2. Lack of animal control resources

An attempt to trap and kill all the cats, colony by colony, is simply unrealistic – there aren’t enough resources available to accomplish this.


3. Abandonment

Domestic cats are constantly being abandoned and can quickly repopulate a vacated area. Cats are territorial and won’t simply ‘go away’.  This tactic drives cats to explore garbage cans/dumpsters and hunt wildlife.  Higher disease/flea rate among malnourished cats.


4. Trap and Kill

Trap and Kill of community cats has been used for decades and has failed miserably.  If it worked, the number of community cats would be decreasing, which it is NOT.  Trap-Neuter-Return has shown that it compassionately reduces community cat populations, making it effective and efficient.

5. Relocation 

This simply moves the issue to another area. The same issues apply to relocation as trap and kill (vacuum effect, lack of resources, etc).  Most feral cats cannot be tamed at all or would require months of focused work – and the outcome is always uncertain.


Unfamiliar territory can cause cats to continue to move.  The size of the colony will reach a critical point.  New litters will starve or become diseased from lack of food/shelter.  All issues of an unmanaged colony remain (noise, odor, costs, etc).



A community cat is a cat that lives outside and is unowned.  They may be feral (wild), semi-feral or friendly (abandoned or lost).