VOLUME 2, ISSUE 3

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This is a new column starting with this month's issue and is meant to address questions relating to the feral trapping experience. Folsom Feline Rescue has always advocated population control as our main objective. Now with our SNYP, FSNP, and borrow-a-trap programs we have more awareness and more questions from the community. In every issue, I will pick one question and give my two cents on it as far as FFR is concerned. Now for this issue's question.

Q: Why should I worry about trap, neuter, release (TNR) of feral cats, why not just trap them and send them to the county animal control to be dealt with?

A: As solutions go, this is certainly "a solution" and one that has been tried ineffectively over and over again. There are a few reasons this fails. One is that if the whole colony is not collected quickly, the colony will begin to over-produce due to colony shrinkage. So in this case, you are making a bad situation worse. Two, if you can collect the whole colony in a short period of time, other feral cats will move into the now free territory. There must be some reason for these feral cats to be there; food source or a protected environment are the common ones. So you never quite get the area feral-free. Instead of euthanizing every cat you can find, you spay and neuter them. This is cheaper, or at least the same cost as euthanizing, in most counties where low cost spay and neuter programs are available. Focus on the problem, production of kittens, and you have a solution that is humane and effective. Studies

provided by Alley Cat Allies and San Diego Feral Cat Coalition show it works. As Becky Robinson of Alley Cat Allies told a group at a recent convention, "If you were homeless and someone wanted to put you to sleep because they though it would be best for you what would you say?" It is a life, maybe not the best but it is what they know and have adapted to. It is our job to make that life as livable as we can and break the production cycle.

Have a question for Trapper John? Send an email to info@folsomfelines.org.

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Friday is media and education day. What that means is that for the first four hours of the day you are bombarded by children of all ages on a field trip excursion. Various news stations make their rounds taking film for that evening's news broadcasts. By 1:00 p.m. you can take a breath and relax a bit for the rest of the day. Fridays are usually unproductive for adoptions but we did three kittens to start off the week. Way to go.

Saturday has been our most productive day in the past and this event was no different. People non-stop from about 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., I however forgot the candy refill and on our best day for candy sales -- Duh! Well we survived Saturday and did well across the board: adoptions, T-shirts, and of course sold what candy we had. Our total adoptions so far is 9. We are almost up to last year's number of 11 for the weekend. Two more to tie and three will break the record.

Sunday we expected more of the same but were very disappointed. A record heat must be keeping people in. We did our two adoptions for the day all at around 1:30 p.m. and that was that.  We had a good run and found homes for many cats and kittens. There are not many events where you can adopt out 11 to 15 cats in a weekend.