TNVR is a commonly cited practice for many animal shelters, but one that not many people fully understand. TNVR stands for Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, Return and it is done to help control the population of free-roaming cats.
When I first started as Director of Antietam Humane Society in October 2018, the “solution” for feral cats was to trap and euthanize. What I noticed though, was that we received the same number of cats from the same locations year after year. Obviously, the trap and kill method was not decreasing the population.
The reason for this is something called the “Vacuum Effect.” Because the food source often remains in the area where cats have been removed, more cats will just move in and take over, resulting in the same overpopulation and nuisance behavior seen before.
The most effective way to combat this is to sterilize the cats, vaccinate them against rabies and distemper, and release them back to the area they know as home. The reasons for this are 1) now that the cat is sterilized, they can no longer reproduce, 2) when you have multiple sterilized cats in one location, they become very territorial and will work together to keep out unsterilized cats from their colony, and 3) once sterilized, most nuisance behavior like yowling, fighting, and spraying subsides.
In December of 2021, we opened our low-cost spay/neuter clinic to end the needless killing of feral cats and provide sterilization and vaccination for them instead. This keeps the cats healthier, limits the spread of disease among the cats and humans in the community, and most importantly, prevents the birth of more feral cats.
For a TNVR clinic to be successful, though, it requires community support and participation. Appointments can be scheduled on our website at antietamhumanesociety.org/services/spay-neuter-clinic/ For $45, each free-roaming cat will be altered, vaccinated for rabies and distemper, and receive an ear-tip signifying it has been sterilized. As a reminder, we are not a tax-payer funded shelter. We survive thanks to generous donations and fees for our services, which we do our best to keep as low as possible.
If you have any additional questions about TNVR or any of our other services, please contact us at the shelter.
Thank you for helping us care for our community’s animals. With your help, we can save more lives.
By Kacie Morrell, Executive Director, Antietam Humane Society
