HES is excited to announce it has received a grantfrom PetSmart Charities® for $32,800 to begin a Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program for feral cats in Chattanooga.

As in all cities around the country, feral cats are increasing in Chattanooga. TNR is a proven and humane solution to the ever increasing population of cats that are not suitable for adoption. These cats are living in our cities, neighborhoods and even our backyards.

HES has been an advocate of Trap-Neuter-Return for some time. With the grant from PetSmart Charities®, we will see an immediate reduction in the feral cat population. An unprecedented collaboration between HES, Wally's Friends and the Cat Clinic of Chattanooga will drastically lower the numbers of feral cats in zip code 37403, an area producing extraordinary numbers of unwanted and misunderstood cats!

Cats will be humanely trapped, spayed/neutered at Wally's Friends, recover with the Cat Clinic of Chattanooga or at HES, and returned to their colony's location. Once altered and returned to their home, caretakers will continue to feed and monitor these cats. Fewer unadoptable cats will enter shelters and unwanted behaviors such as spraying, yowling, and fighting will be decreased dramatically.

Please continue reading to learn more about feral cats, TNR and how you can help.

What is a Feral Cat?
A "feral" cat is a cat who has reverted in some degree to a wild state. They originate from former domestic cats who were lost or abandoned and then learned to live outdoors or in environments involving little human contact, such as warehouses, factories or abandoned buildings. In most cases, feral cats are not completely wild because they still depend on people for their food source, whether it's a caretaker who comes by once or twice a day, a dumpster outside a restaurant, garbage cans, or the like. Relatively few feral cats subsist only by hunting.

What is TNR?
Trap-Neuter-Return, commonly referred to as "TNR," is the only method proven to be humane and effective at controlling feral cat population growth. Using this technique, all the feral cats in a colony are trapped, neutered and then returned to their territory where caretakers provide them with regular food and shelter. Young kittens who can still be socialized, as well as friendly adults, are placed in foster care and eventually adopted out to good homes.

TNR has many advantages. It immediately stabilizes the size of the colony by eliminating new litters. The nuisance behavior often associated with feral cats is dramatically reduced, including the yowling and fighting that come with mating activity and the odor of unneutered males spraying to mark their territory. The returned colony also guards its territory, preventing unneutered cats from moving in and beginning the cycle of overpopulation and problem behavior anew. Particularly in urban areas, the cats continue to provide natural rodent control.

Another significant advantage to TNR is that, when practiced on a large scale, it lessens the number of kittens and cats flowing into local shelters. This results in lower euthanasia rates and the increased adoption of cats already in the shelters.

Watch a Video from Ally Cats Allies: What is TNR?

TNR Partners

Cat Clinic of Chattanooga



Wally's Friends

HOW YOU CAN HELP
Attend a TNR Workshop!

TNR IS GOOD FOR FERALS:
Learn how to become a TNR trapper and/or Colony caregiver. Trappers have the important job of trapping and transporting cats to and from Wally's Friends. Once neutered the cats are returned to the same place they were trapped. Caregivers provide food and water regularly and sometimes create shelters depending on the environment and weather conditions. The caregivers provide something else that is critical: They give the cats a voice by educating neighbors and people who work in or near the colony's territory. Education and in some cases, mediation, is an essential aspect of Trap-Neuter-Return and colony care.

WORKSHOP DATES To Be Announced

Interested in a workshop? Email your Name and contact infomation to: hesvolunteer@comcast.net

Help Us Find Colonys!
Are you seeing ferals in zip code area 37403? Let us know about them! Email HES with a location and description of the cat(s) you are seeing and we will add them to our program. hesvolunteer@comcast.net

Give a Gift
A gift of $50 will spay one cat and help prevent many feral births. Please donate to HES' TNR program and help us improve the lives of homeless cats in Chattanooga!

Click HERE to Donate Now!