Feral Cat Impact Assertion by Linda Winters

New study shows TNR programs have no impact on feral cat populations:  “Analysis of the impact of trap-neuter-return programs on populations of feral cats,” by Patrick Foley, PhD, Janet Foley, DVM, PhD, Julie Levy, DVM, PhD, and Terry Paik, DVM published in the December 1, 2005 issue of AVMA’s Journal, used a mathematical model to evaluate two large-scale, long-running TNR programs for feral cat population management.   From 1992 to 2003, 14,452 cats were trapped, neutered, and released out of an estimated 240,690 feral cats in San Diego County, CA.  From 1998 to 2004, 11,822 cats were trapped, neutered, and released out of an estimated 36,398 feral cats in Alachua County, FL.  In both counties, the researchers concluded that results of the analyses did not indicate a consistent reduction in the feral cat population or the proportion of female cats that were pregnant.