Everything To Know About The TNR Project

Some cities have begun to enforce the “TNR project” organized by institutions and maintained by protective associations and individuals.

The abbreviation stands  for  “trap–neuter–return“. It is meant to control the population of stray cats by trapping all strays cats and sterilize them, but the project’s goals go far beyond that.

Cities and towns are getting packed with diseased stray cats without anyone to take care of them. They uncontrollably reproduce due to female cats being constantly in heat. Normally, during the beginning of spring, is when hundreds of kittens are born in the streets.

Some are able to survive as strays, but many die at only a few months old, even adult cats have a life expectancy of 5 years. However, a cat with a home can live up to 15 years.

TNR project

This program has been the only successful program to reduce the number of litters born on the streets.  Volunteers from several cities are in charge of trapping, sterilizing, and returning any cats they find.

However, the TNR Project is not only intended to sterilize cats, it also controls different areas filled with cats. Volunteers are assigned zones to watch and care for. Their duty is to set out safe food and water, provide veterinary attention when needed, and deworming. They also search for responsible families to adopt new-born kittens or abandoned cats.

Advantages of the TNR Project

In order to care for and control so many animals, you need to have time and the finance to back it up. No matter what, this project provides many benefits:

• It lowers the stray cat birth rate and population.
• Volunteers only set out dry food, avoiding creating insect infestations or unsanitary areas.
• The project is helping to control and identify stray cats in each area. They’re given chips and identified as street cats so that they don’t end up in a pound.
• After sterilization, cats stop fighting over territory or mates.
• The sanitation of the area improves and cats stop marking their territory with urine.

How to find out if there are areas with a lot cats

The controlled areas tend to be identifiable by signs. If an area is already controlled, those cats don’t need any more help. If there are no signs, you can tell if a cat is sterilized (therefore, it will need to undergo the TNR procedure.).  A TNR cat will have a little groove on one of its ears.

This is a routine practice used worldwide to designate that a feline is sterilized so that it won’t be re-trapped. This notch in the ear is done by a veterinarian after sterilization while the cat is still under anesthesia. It’s painless, and since it’s made in the cartilage, it requires no extra care and heals within a few hours.

If you see cats in your city with these markings in their ears, you can rest assured that someone is looking out for them.

What to do if you see a controlled area?

Cats living in a controlled area don’t need anything other but peace. These animals usually don’t adapt well to living in a household. Normally, they want nothing to do with humans.

Cats have no problem living on the streets. Since their population is controlled, we know someone is feeding them on a regular basis and looking after their health.

If you want to help a group of cats in your city, keep an eye out for informative brochures. They should have their names and contact info of organizations that feed them. You can reach out to them and offer help. They always need more volunteers, dry kibble, and money.

If TNR doesn’t appear to have reached the area where you live and you want to help your street animals, you can start controlling a population on your own. Remember to only set out dry food and not leftover human food. You should hide it so that no one throws it out or poisons it.

Stray cats hunt bugs and help prevent their illnesses from spreading. They also keep rats away. Therefore, humans have a lot to learn about respecting animals that live within their cities. Controlled areas are the most respectful and humane way to protect them and ensure peaceful living environment.