TNR

I bet you are wondering what a TNR is?  Well, a TNR, in its entirety, is when you trap something, get it spayed/neutered and then you release it back from where you found it.  This is a very useful tool at the shelter where I work.  MSU-CVM students come to our shelter once a month and perform spays and neuters on our shelter animals. We never adopt anything out without it being sterile; and by sterile I mean not fertile or cannot reproduce.  They also do, what we call, TNR’s.  Residents in Clay County have a big problem with feral cats and this program allows us to offer them a chance to get these cats fixed and release them back out where they found them.  The only stipulation of this agreement is that if they were feeding them, they must continue to do so.  According to the ASPCA in 2012, “it is impossible to determine how many stray dogs and cats live in the United States; estimates for cats alone range up to 70 million.  The average number of litters a fertile cat produces is one to two a year; the average number of kittens is four to six per litter” (ASPCA, 2012).  By offering residents this kind of help can and will make a big difference in our community.  There are many feline diseases that can be spread, not only through bites and saliva, but from mother to kittens in utero.  Most of these diseases are not zoonotic, but there are a few that humans can contract.  Such diseases include: rabies, cat-scratch disease, salmonellosis, etc.  When you control the population, you control the diseases as well.  So, offering this program is a good thing to help keep the population of cats down in our community.