James Hubbard’s recent letter (“Rethink feral cat policy,” April 29, Our Readers’ Views) only adds to the misinformation and scare mongering on the subject of outdoor cats, thereby undermining any chance for reasonable discussions and fact-based reporting. It’s well known that trap-neuter-vaccinate-return programs have a positive impact not only on the cats, but on animal shelters and the communities they serve.
The successes we’ve seen, in our own programs and others, echo the findings of numerous research studies demonstrating the effectiveness of targeted TNVR programs to reduce the population of cats at a local level, the surprisingly good health of these cats, and the broad public support such programs enjoy. By contrast, the traditional approach to managing free-roaming cats (i.e., impoundment followed, in most cases, by lethal injection) has been used for more than 100 years in this country, with no evidence whatsoever that it’s produced any long-term population reduction. It’s also wildly unpopular and costly, the poster child for failed public policy.
Targeted TNVR offers a common-sense, animal-friendly, effective, and economical alternative. No wonder such programs are becoming increasingly popular across the country, in communities large and small, urban and rural.
