Trap, neuter and release programs, or TNR, allow feral cat colonies to die out naturally, proponent Beth Jones said. Simply removing or killing the cats just opens up their territory for other ferals, which she said does not solve the problem.
Jones recently began working with private property owners in the county to trap and neuter feral cats and return the felines, which are used to trim the rodent population.
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Cats that have been altered fight less and enjoy better health. "Then they're working their little butts off for you to control the rat population. That's all they're focusing on: getting fed, instead of on mating," Jones said.
It's the "return" part of TNR that currently runs afoul municipal ordinance, and that means it can't be done in the city of Montrose.
"If we allow trap, neuter and release to take place in the city of Montrose, we would be in violation of our own ordinance," Montrose Police Officer Mike Duncan, animal control supervisor, said. "If they wanted to try this in town, we would have to change our city ordinance."
Duncan said ordinances require animals to be contained within the property of their owner or custodian, or otherwise under human control. Another ordinance limits the number of pets an individual can own within the city limits. A person who cares for a feral cat colony technically becomes the cats' custodian and is therefore poised to violate the ordinances.
Duncan said animal control and the Montrose Police have no stance on changing the ordinance, but that if it were amended, the language should allow TNR only in designated areas approved of and monitored by the animal shelter.
"It's getting to be a bigger issue all the time," he said. "We may be in favor of it in designated areas." Otherwise, though, his agency is neutral.
He said one concern is that feral cats prey on songbirds. When the birds become accustomed to being fed in a certain location, the feral cats will come too, Duncan said.
Jones disagreed. She said domestic cats, which are already well-fed, prey on birds at feeders, but a feral doesn't have that luxury — its meal of choice is usually the meatier, easier to catch, rodent.
She called the existing ordinance blocking TNR in the city "antique" and said it should be overturned.
For now, she is working with a Delta woman to address the feral cat colony in Confluence Park. Cat lovers doing TNR there were given a deadline to remove the cats. (See Daily Press, April 17).
"We'll work on Delta first," she said, inviting other cat lovers to attend Delta's city council meeting May 6. "Maybe in a year's time, we can start working out with Montrose to get TNR accepted more. It does work. It has been proven to work. People need to be more educated."
For now, she's hopeful more county landowners with feral cat colonies will be willing to engage in TNR. Interested persons must take the cats back once they have been spayed or neutered and they need to help pay for the procedures. Jones tries to coordinate the trapping with low-cost spay/neuter programs.
She called TNR a "win-win" for landowners and cats. "Your population will eventually go down. It's just the realistic way to go," she said.
Duncan also encouraged TNR proponents to contact county landowners, particularly ranchers and farmers. "A lot of those guys will sometimes have way more cats than they can handle. If someone was able to trap those cats and spay and neuter them, the farmers would probably be delighted," he said.
Duncan reminded residents to spay or neuter and to prevent pets from running at large. "Then you do not have a feral cat problem in your area," he said.
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