This month, we kicked off our Trap, Neuter, and Return (TNR) program for Harford County. We call it , Harford Community Cats and it is focused on assisting Harford County residents who are feeding feral cats with vaccinating, spaying/neutering, and caring for their colonies. Feral cats cannot be socialized or placed up for adoption in a home, TNR makes it possible for the feral cats to live out their lives instead of being trapped and taken away to be euthanized.
TNR has been on going in Harford for many years. We know of several large colonies of feral cats in the county that did not produce any kittens this year thanks to the efforts of a small group of dedicated individuals who work incredibly hard to help the cats and the community. They are hero’s in our eyes! Our program expands on the efforts of those individuals by offering county residents a formalized TNR assistance program.
There are an estimated 35,000 (YES! 35 thousand!) feral cats in Harford County. We believe that TNR is a necessary approach to initially stabilizing and eventually reducing the county’s large feral population. This isn’t a new solution, there are communities just like ours all over the USA that are successfully running TNR programs. These communities are experiencing fewer cat nuisance complaints and an overall lower euthanasia rate for cats in their shelters.
Right now, TNR is not currently recognized by Harford County government as a management technique for ferals. We are actively petitioning the county to recognize TNR as a technique for feral cat management that can work as a compliment to their current methods. It is our hope that one day Harford County will choose to extend its ability to protect public health and ensure humane treatment of feral cats by recognizing TNR through local laws.
During the last couple of weeks we’ve started working with over a dozen feral cat colonies in Harford county. We have another dozen on a waiting list that we just don’t have the resources to help with right now. We need volunteers and if you’re interested in helping we’d like to hear from you. The more volunteers we have the more cats we can help.
If you’re really motivated and want to help in a big big way, we are in desperate need of foster homes for feral kittens, KMR milk replacer), paper towels, small bath towels, washcloths, and bags of dry cat food!
Finally, if you’re feeding cats, you’re not alone. We’re here to help.
To get help with your colony, volunteer, or make a donation, please contact us.
What a wonderful thing you are doing, God Bless you, and thank you!
Wow, I had NO idea that there were THAT many feral cats in harford county. It seems overwhelming with knowing all them are out there. But if all us cat lovers do our part we can help get that number down hopefully.
Signed,
A colony care giver and a cat lover!
(A.K.A. Linda)
I found a colony of cats while driving to my shop off rt 543 around a vacant house. There are about 18 – 20 of them. I’ve been feeding them for about 10 days with hope that I could get help with a tnr program to spay and neuter. 4 – 5 are fairly young (6 – 20 weeks ?) and somewhat freindly at this time. These seem to me to be very adoptable. Some of the older ones come around and will allow me to pet them some and there are a few that come around to eat but maintain their distance. One is a nursing mom with at least 5 little ones, maybe 3 weeks old or so. The mom allows me to pet her somewhat, but the kittens are pretty skidish and run when they I get to close. The property they are on had folks living in the house about a monthy or so ago but I believe they moved out because the property is to be auctioned. There are no no-tresspassing signs up but its not the most ideal situation to be feeding a colony of cats on someones vacated property. I’m not sure what the best moves are concerning this situation. I currently have 3 dogs and 2 cats at my house, which I believe is the maximum in Harford county. It seems that this is probably a ticking time bomb so to speak. There is veterinarian house just a couple of properties down the road. Any helpful direction would be appreciated.