posted January 18, 2013 11:01 PM            

The New York City Feral Cat Initiative (NYCFCI) is a program of the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals that is committed to solving NYC's feral cat overpopulation crisis through the humane, non-lethal method of Trap-Neuter-Return, or TNR for short.

The Problem: Too Many Cats Living on the Streets

Tens of thousands of street cats live in the alleyways, backyards, and outdoor spaces of New York City. They are the offspring of lost or abandoned pet cats and, unneutered, they go on to spawn new generations. The cats group themselves together in packs called colonies. Many of their nuisance behaviors can be attributed to mating behaviors that would likely cease if they were sterilized. These behaviors include noise from fighting and mating, and the smell from the spraying of pheromone-laced urine.

Because these cats are not socialized to humans, they are not candidates for adoption. The breeding of these street cats results in more kittens entering the shelters — taking away homes that would otherwise go to the adult cats already there. Most adult feral cats taken in at city shelters are euthanized (killed) because they are not adoptable as house pets. As a result, the city must shoulder higher costs for municipal animal control.

The Solution: Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR)

In neighborhoods throughout New York City, TNR is proving effective in humanely managing feral cat colonies and reducing their numbers over time. TNR is a two-step approach to feral cat overpopulation:

Step One: TNR

Stray and feral (wild) cats are humanely trapped, evaluated, given a rabies vaccination, left eartipped, and spayed or neutered (sterilized) by a veterinarian, and then returned to the familiar habitat of their original colony. Tame (friendly) cats and kittens young enough to be socialized are removed for adoption placement in permanent indoor homes.

Step Two: Ongoing Feral Cat Colony Management

Volunteers called colony caretakers provide ongoing care of the cats, including daily food, water, and clean-up of the area, shelter, and monitoring of the cats' health. This ongoing surveillance ensures that any new cats that find their way into the colony will be removed if they are tame, or TNR'd (rabies vaccinated, left eartipped, and sterilized) if they are feral. This allows the number of cats in the colony to diminish over time through natural attrition, as cats get old and die from natural causes.

How the NYC Feral Cat Initiative is Helping

What We Do:

The NYCFCI provides advice to the general public and TNR caretakers by phone and e-mail; feline educational information via its website, e-mail list, and printed materials; community outreach and education, including training workshops in bottle-feeding and taming feral kittens; free equipment loans; transport of traps to and from TNR sites and transport of cats to and from spay/neuter appointments; cat food and straw giveaways; and limited hands-on TNR assistance.

In-person TNR certification workshops in all five boroughs and hands-on assistance for TNR-certified caretakers are offered by Neighborhood Cats. Please contact Neighborhood Cats directly to enroll in The Neighborhood Cats TNR Workshop or to request hands-on assistance with a TNR project. An online TNR certification course is available through Humane Society University.

What We Do NOT Do:

Emergency Rescues:
Instead, learn who handles emergency rescues in New York City.

Investigate Animal Cruelty Cases:
Instead, learn how to report a case of animal cruelty within New York City.