Spay Neuter Program Why DHA spays/neuters
A key part of Delaware Humane’s vision of securing a safe environment for all companion animals is its mission to provide spay/neuter services. To appreciate the critical importance of this mission, one need only look at the appalling statistics on the thousands of healthy, adoptable animals euthanized in Delaware every year for want of a good home. It’s a matter of simple math: if adoptable animals outnumber adoptive homes, some animals are going to be without a home. The caption on the billboard, showing kittens and puppies saying, “We can’t add and subtract, but we sure can multiply,” is only too true.
Trap-Neuter-Return
A Humane Solution to
Feral Cat Overpopulation
There is a compassionate solution to the problem of feral cat overpopulation In our state and throughout the country, a small but dedicated group of people is employing a humane method of population control called Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR). The feral cats are humanely trapped, taken to a veterinary clinic to be spayed or neutered, and then usually returned to the place where they were trapped.
Completion of TNR of all the residents in the colony is a major accomplishment that ensures many benefits. Neutered male cats will be less likely to wander off, and therefore less likely to become injured fighting for territorial rights or competing for mates. There will be no repetitive breeding, which means kittens will not be left to suffer and die because a mother cat with limited resources had to abandon several kittens to enable a few to live.
Feral colony caretakers provide shelter, food, and water, ideally once a day. They monitor the colony for signs of injury or illness, and also check to see if there are new arrivals that will need to be “T-N-R”’ed.
Needless to say, all of this requires tremendous effort from the people who have taken on the responsibility of caring for feral cats. To assist caretakers, the Delaware Humane Association, through its Friends of Felines Program, offers spay/neuter services, vaccinations, and screening tests, all for reduced costs. Please call 571-8172, ext. 300 for details.
If you notice a single stray cat or a group of strays, please don’t ignore their plight. Please learn more about T-N-R, a humane and compassionate solution to the problem.
Further information and a video on TNR.
Feral Refuge Donations
The success of the Friends of Felines Program depends on your support. Please consider a to help this worthy cause.
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