Feral Cat Program
Delta Community Animal Shelter (DCAS) strives to manage and reduce the feral cat population in our community. This is done by ensuring population control through a program referred to as Trap - Neuter/Spay - Release (TNR). A group of cats living in an area are called a colony and it is vital to spay and neuter all of the cats in the colony. In addition to spaying and neutering cats that are trapped we also provide basic preventative health care (vaccinations) and identify feral cats by "eartipping".
Cats that are considered to be truly feral in nature (untrusting and wary of humans) are released back into their territory; however, kittens and cats that are considered to be friendly or social enter the adoption program at the shelter and receive the same adoption criteria as other cats. This method used to manage the colony is common practice throughout the world and is found to be the most effective and humane.
Benefits to TNR are:
- Population control and permanent reduction of the number of feral and domestic cats in our community that are without a home
- Lower stray cat intake numbers at the shelter
- Creates a better, less hostile living environment for cats that frequent outdoors or are considered feral
- Eliminates common nuisance behaviours such as yowling and foul odor from urine
- Vaccination provides a human and domestic animal health benefit for our community
I have a feral cat colony/family in my neighbourhood, what can I do about it?
This program can only work with the communities support and assistance. Cooperation by all neighbours where there is a feral cat colony is necessary to ensure the program is a success. Before Animal Control Officers (ACO) can assist we ask that someone in the community becomes a guardian for the cat colony.
Providing the cats with a consistent food source and ensuring the size of the colony is assessed is an important first step. Animal Control will then place cat traps in the colony's territory for approximately 3 months to a year (depending on the size of the colony). The community in which the trapping occurs must be proactive in monitoring the traps and notifying Animal Control when a cat has been trapped. Once trapped, cats are taken for their health check and spay/neuter. Once spayed/neutered and vaccinated the cats are returned to the neighbourhood. Animal Control asks that someone in the community continues to act as a guardian for the colony and monitors their health and population.
What do we do if we trap a cat that is not part of the colony?
The Corporation of Delta Animal Control Bylaw No. 6893, 2010 states that all cats allowed to roam must be spayed or neutered and have a form of identification. If the suspected domestic cat does not have a tattoo and/or is not spayed/neutered it will be admitted to the shelter as a stray cat until its owner can come forward to identify it. If an owner does not come forward after 72 hours the cat will be spayed/neutered and placed for adoption. It will be the owner's responsibility to ensure their cat(s) are provided with identification prior to letting the cat(s) outside to roam (where they could be trapped).
How do you know if the entire colony has been spayed/neutered?
As intact (not spayed/neutered) feral cats will mate with domestic cats it is important that ALL cats in the colony are spay/neutered to ensure proper population control. Therefore, all domestic cats in the neighbourhood should be spayed/neutered and given proper identification. Prior to trapping, the guardian of the colony will be asked to complete an Identification Log so Animal Control can keep track of which cats in the colony have been trapped and which have not. Eartipping is the procedure of cutting off the tip of the ear. This is done only when a feral cat is spayed or neutered and helps identify a spayed/neutered cat at a distance. Ear tipping is painless as it is done when the animal is under anesthetic for the spay/neuter surgery.
Do I have to pay for the feral cat trapping?
No. However, this program is to help make your neighbourhood a safer and more enjoyable place to live. Donations to the shelter are greatly appreciated as they will help offset the cost of the program and will allow us to continue this important program throughout Delta.
As DCAS must pay for traps and their maintenance, transportation of the cats and animal control staffing, care for the cats while in shelter until they can be spayed/neutered, and rabies vaccinations, select veterinarians in Delta have generously donated their time and skills in performing the actual spay/neuter surgeries. Thank you to: Tsawwassen Animal Hospital, Trenant Park Pet Clinic and Huff Animal Hospital!
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