Perhaps the myth of a cats’ nine lives comes from their reproductive prowess, especially that of those ownerless cats that inhabit urban alleyways — cats that are considered nuisances.
“For centuries people have tried to control the feral cat population and obviously it has done no good because we have a larger population than ever,” said Collette Walker, founder of an organization that’s trying to reduce those populations and lower the euthanization rate at the same time.
An estimated 4 to 7 million cats are euthanized nationwide annually, she said, of which 80 percent come from outdoors. “If we control the outside feral cat population then the kill rate goes way down,” Walker said.
That’s why, she said, she founded Triple R Pets Animal Disaster Relief, which serves primarily the southern areas of Cook County. Her goal is to get more people involved in reducing feral cat populations.
Triple R Pets hosts three seminars a month in different sections of the south and southwest suburbs that teach people how to trap, neuter and then return animals to where they were found, a term known in the industry as “TNR.”
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The seminars teach how to bait a trap and where to take the animals for low-cost veterinarian service, including spay or neutering procedures, vaccinations and microchip insertions. TNR loans out wire traps with a refundable security deposit because feral cats cannot be in plastic carriers. Walker said this is to protect the veterinarian technician from having to reach into a cage, and allows a cat to be sedated through the trap walls.
To date, Triple R has assisted about 750 volunteers with the TNR process and has handled more than 5,000 cats, Walker said.
A statement from Alley Cat Allies, a group that supports TNR, endorses Triple R’s efforts.
“Catch and kill is a futile effort that has failed for decades — with hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars wasted and, worse, millions of healthy cats killed,” it stated.
Due to the colonial nature of cat social structures, when some members of a colony are removed, other cats move in and breed to the fill available geography, according to Walker and Alley Cat Allies. This creates a vacuum effect, she said.
However, in Will County, the animal control does not trap animals unless there are specific complaints made, usually by neighbors, according to LeRoy Schild, a veterinarian and administrator of the Will County Animal Control.
“The TNR program doesn’t do anything to minimize the number of cats (currently in existence),” Schild said. “It stops the growth of the population, but it doesn’t address the complaints by the neighbors where the cats are getting into the garbage and being a nuisance to them.”
When Will County Animal Control receives a complaint about cats and officers trap the animals, that typically solves the problem without repeat occurrences, Schild said. The number of problems vary according to the density of the population, with more complaints from suburban than rural locations, he said.
Then, the animal control does “everything we can to find placement,” such as tracking microchips, and finding home in shelters, he said. If the animals are not showing any socialization behaviors and determined to be feral, they can sometimes be placed on area farms.
“Several of our officers know farmers with rural buildings,” who keep outdoor cats to control mice, Schild said.
Will County Animal Control euthanized 79 feral cats in 2016, and 58 in 2015, he said. Schild said he was not aware of any shelters in Will County that euthanized cats for population control or because the animals had been in the shelter for too long.
“Every no-kill shelter has some animals that need to be put down,” Schild said. “I don’t know of any that are zero-kill.”
Examples would be cases where animals attack or bite children, he said, or cases where animals are terminally ill.
“I don’t feel comfortable putting those individuals to sleep, but there is no good solution for them,” the veterinarian said. “We deal with animals and we are very concerned about animals, but we are also very concerned about public health.”
Triple R Pets partners with the South Suburban Humane Society, the Southwest Animal Care Center in Palos Hills, and PAWS Chicago, Walker said.
The cost for caretakers to complete the TNR program is about $65 per cat, which includes the surgery, vaccinations, deworming, and microchip, Walker said. Triple R Pets can help with the costs, she said.
More information about Triple R Pets and information about upcoming TNR seminars are at http://www.triplerpets.org.
Erin Gallagher is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.