We applaud Albuquerque for its highly effective Trap-Neuter-Return program for community cats, which is approaching its two-year anniversary. The citywide program is working wonders for cats. In its first year, 59% fewer healthy cats were impounded and killed in the shelter than in the previous year. The program includes spay/neuter and vaccination services, a TNR trap loan program, colony care education, and other resources for community cat caregivers.
Albuquerque’s program has also allowed the city to improve its pet adoption and foster programs to save even more lives. This model program is drawing national attention as other cities seek to improve their own programs for cats.
A local opponent of this humane program is trying to take legal action in an attempt to pressure the city to halt its lifesaving program, misguidedly claiming that TNR constitutes animal abandonment. Trap-Neuter-Return is not abandonment. Returning a feral cat to her natural environment, her home, after she has been spayed and vaccinated by a veterinarian supports the cats’ best interests.
We applaud Albuquerque and the growing number communities nationwide for their lifesaving Trap-Neuter-Return programs.