The Impact of Targeted Trap-Neuter-Return Efforts in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Daniel D Spehar,Peter J Wolf

doi:10.3390/ani10112089

Abstract

Simple SummarySubstantial and sustained reductions in community cat populations associated with trap–neuter–return (TNR) programs have been documented in a variety of locations, including in the northeastern, midwestern, and southeastern United States, as well as Australia. The present study adds to this growing body of evidence by examining the impact of a TNR program on a population of community cats living on a two-mile section of a pedestrian trail adjacent to the San Francisco Bay. An initial population of 175 cats declined by 99.4% over the 16-year program period. Of the 258 total cats enrolled between 2004 and 2020, only one remained at the end of the program period. The results of the present study corroborate previous research findings. Recently, a growing collection of evidence that associates trap–neuter–return (TNR) programs with substantial and sustained reductions in community cat populations across a variety of environments has emerged. Peer-reviewed studies emanating from the northeastern, midwestern, and southeastern United States, as well as Australia, document such reductions. The present study expands upon this body of evidence by examining the impact of a long-term TNR program on a population of community cats residing on a pedestrian trail adjacent to an oceanic bay located on the West Coast of the U.S. A population of 175 community cats, as determined by an initial census, living on a 2-mile section of the San Francisco Bay Trail declined by 99.4% over a 16-year period. After the conclusion of the initial count, the presence of cats was monitored as part of the TNR program’s daily feeding regimen. Of the 258 total cats enrolled in the program between 2004 and 2020, only one remained at the end of the program period. These results are consistent with those documented at the various sites of other long-term TNR programs.

Highlights

The use of trap–neuter–return (TNR) as a humane alternative to the lethal management of stray and feral cats, referred to as community cats, has proliferated in the USA over the past three decades after originating in Europe in the 1950s [1,2,3]
A growing body of evidence has emerged suggesting that TNR programs of sufficient intensity [9] are capable of producing long-term reductions in free-roaming cat populations and that with ongoing management, the reductions are sustainable for extended periods and in different environments [10,11,12,13,14]
Brochures were disseminated via clear weatherproof dispensers affixed to the signs that were erected on the trail by the city, given to trail-goers by Project Bay Cat (PBC) volunteers, and distributed at events by Homeless Cat Network (HCN)

Summary

Introduction

The use of trap–neuter–return (TNR) as a humane alternative to the lethal management of stray and feral cats, referred to as community cats (a term broadly used to describe unowned, free-roaming cats regardless of their level of sociability), has proliferated in the USA over the past three decades after originating in Europe in the 1950s [1,2,3]. Wolf and Hamilton [5] contend that the infeasibility of eradication, along with a lack of evidence that the common practice of intermittent culling (i.e., complaint-based shelter impoundment followed, in most cases, by lethal injection) is an effective means for reducing populations of community cats, has spurred the proliferation of TNR programs. A number of peer-reviewed articles have been published that begin to fill the aforementioned information void From these studies, a growing body of evidence has emerged suggesting that TNR programs of sufficient intensity [9] are capable of producing long-term reductions in free-roaming cat populations and that with ongoing management, the reductions are sustainable for extended periods and in different environments [10,11,12,13,14]. The brochures served several functions, including education of the public about TNR, to provide an accessible list of local resources related to pet surrender in order to discourage abandonment, and to remind the public that the program was being conducted in partnership with the city

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