NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — The Niagara County SPCA has adopted a new program aimed at protecting the feral cat population.
Starting July 1, the organization will no longer take in healthy feral felines brought to the shelter. Instead, they will now promote a Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) policy where the cats are humanely trapped, vaccinated and neutered and then returned to their outdoor home.
The Niagara SPCA says feral cats are not socialized to people and therefore not adoptable.
"When other shelters stopped accepting feral cats, they saw immediate benefits - intake numbers decreased, save rates increased and community support increased," said Tim Brennan, executive director. "This approach will free up critical staff time and save us money, allowing us to focus more on increasing adoption rates, improving shelter conditions and developing Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) partnerships with cat rescue organizations in the community."
TNR services can be performed on community cats by appointment for $60 or by appointment at one of several area cat rescue organizations (prices vary).
More information can be found here.
