TulsaPets Magazine March 2021

14 TulsaPets • March/April 2021 A recent story in TulsaPets promoted a practice known as “TNR” (trap-neuter-return) where “caretakers” leave food outdoors for unowned cats, then trap, neuter and return them. Although these caretakers are well-intentioned, there is another important side to this story that needs to be told. Evidence-based scientific studies have shown this approach is not effective at reducing populations of unowned cats, and it results in serious negative consequences for animal welfare as well as risks to human health. Claims that TNR is a humane way to address the overpopulation of unowned cats are disputed by many credible veterinarians and animal and wildlife welfare experts. The Tulsa World recently published an article, “Animal Doctor: Stop cruel trap-neuter-release,” by Dr. Michael Fox, a longtime vet whose primary emphasis is on compassionate animal welfare, and he explained this inhumane approach. Unowned cats left to fend for themselves can be fed and vaccinated one time for rabies, but that doesn’t protect them from disease (including rabies), trauma, internal parasites, fleas, ticks and predators. All of these factors lead to suffering and death for cats. Cats shed parasites, such as Toxoplasma gondii, and roundworms that can both infect humans, sometimes with severe outcomes. Feral cats in the U.S. kill over 1 BILLION native birds each year and have been shown to be one of the primary causes of native bird loss. LETTER TO THE PUBLISHER: TNR IS NOT THE SOLUTION TO FERAL CAT MANAGEMENT WRITTEN BY: Dr. Scott Loss and Pamela Gotcher Continued on p. 16