Trap Neuter & Release
***Due to an unusually high volume of calls from people with stray cats and/or colonies in their area, we have decided to post this following information:
As much as we would love to help everyone who calls, we are limited by our resources: funds, volunteers, veterinarians and TIME.
As such, we have prepared this REQUEST FOR COLONY ASSISTANCE FORM to help us document the locations of colonies in our region.
If you have a colony in your area, please take the time to fill out this document in FULL and return it to us. Requests for help will be handled in priority sequence as funding and resources allow. This order is determined by many factors: Willingness of people to assist in trapping as well as contribute financially, condition of cats, condition of environment, and other cases which may be more urgent.
What is a Trap Neuter Release Program?
There are feral colonies all over the Okanagan due to people not spaying and neutering their animals and then letting them outside. Once they start procreating they can grow into a large colony very quickly. More often than not there is a lack of food and so they end up starving, cold, and often sick too – once a disease gets into a colony it spreads very quickly. The mandate of AlleyCATS Alliance is to locate colonies, trap all of the cats if possible, have them vetted, spayed, neutered, whatever else is necessary, hold onto them for a suitable recovery period, and then re-release them back to the same area where they came from. If some of the cats are friendly and adoptable we will try to find them homes, but in many cases the cats are feral and we simply don’t have the resources to rehabilitate them, so putting them back is the best option. We make sure there is someone at the site willing to feed the colony and provide some kind of shelter.
What if you catch someone’s “owned” cat?
We always make the neighbourhood aware of our plan to trap before we go in, so if people have owned cats they can bring them inside. No animals are harmed during the process.
Do you release them back to the same area?
Yes, we do.
How do you forewarn people?
We will deliver a letter to homes in the area or post signs at communal areas… mailboxes etc. We also do press releases. Also, if somebody’s un-neutered pet did get caught up in it they would be neutered and returned to where they came from so in effect no harm done.
Are you tracking your trapping activity? How could someone find out if their neighbourhood had been a site of a TNR?
Yes, its tracked. People can inquire about their area anytime and we are happy to answer questions. We are currently in the research and test phase of this exciting and very worthwhile project.
How many more times will you be doing this?
As many times as is necessary to try and solve the problem. This depends on the calls for assistance that come in, funding, vet support and many other factors.
