Trap, neuter, return: does this nonlethal method of coping with feral cats work?
The animals that hung around would hungrily eye diners’ plates, and the bolder among them would jump up on the tables to snatch a bite. In the winter, the cats, often sick or injured, would sit and stare at diners through the eateries’ sliding glass doors. At the back of one establishment, 35 cats congregated around a dumpster, and the owner finally decided enough was enough. He urged the chamber of commerce to take action, so the animals were trapped, removed, and euthanized. Soon about three dozen new cats were calling the dumpster home. The food source was still there, and if you feed them, they will come. The restauranteur again called for their removal, but this time the answer was no. The “trap and kill” approach had failed. By then it was 1992, and a grassroots movement with a fresh idea was coming into its own. Two Newburyport women, concerned about the plight of homeless cats, approached the chamber and offered to use a method known as “trap, neuter, vaccinate, and return” (TN
