Hey guys, I'm REALLY new to the whole TNR idea.
We bought our first home (yay!), but realized over the winter that there is what seems to be a colony of cats on our street. Our street (only 8 houses, on a dead-end road) is RIGHT next to one of the busiest highways in the US (I-70), and on the other side, one of the busiest streets in town. This is not a place for cats to be outside, feral or not.
They're getting into garbage, driving our cats nuts (through the windows), etc. And these are FERALS. They won't come near us even if we have food. We've tried.
So, I was going to call someone who I know does cat rescue, but these cats most likely can't be adopted. I want to look out for the best of the entire neighborhood (it's stressful to see these cats all the time and know they are probably making MORE cats, you know?), but at the same time, if trapping them means they will be euthanized when they go to the shelter, that's something big to have on my shoulders, too.
I'm not sure our town has a TNR program (please forgive me for saying this, but we're in a somewhat rural state, where if you have a problem animal, you get your shotgun, sadly), but I know there are at LEAST 7 cats (I think it was a mom and her now teen children, as 4 of them are all black and they hang around with the female), and I can't afford $700 to spay/neuter these animals (to have mine done was over $200, but I had the bloodwork done, the catheter, etc) on my own.
ALSO, I don't know where they'd release them. And then there's the task of going door-to-door to make sure these aren't someone's "pets," even though they're clearly NOT pets, you know? You never know. I know they are living under my neighbor's porch (they slip through the cinder blocks).
*sigh* I just am at a loss, because I feel responsible just for knowing there's no way they are neutered, but at the same time, I don't know how the whole thing works. I want to do right by the neighborhood, and if possible, the cats, who aren't doing anything WRONG -- they don't know any better.
And P.S. I'm sorry if this is in the wrong place, I'm not sure which area of the forum it should be in.
We bought our first home (yay!), but realized over the winter that there is what seems to be a colony of cats on our street. Our street (only 8 houses, on a dead-end road) is RIGHT next to one of the busiest highways in the US (I-70), and on the other side, one of the busiest streets in town. This is not a place for cats to be outside, feral or not.
They're getting into garbage, driving our cats nuts (through the windows), etc. And these are FERALS. They won't come near us even if we have food. We've tried.
So, I was going to call someone who I know does cat rescue, but these cats most likely can't be adopted. I want to look out for the best of the entire neighborhood (it's stressful to see these cats all the time and know they are probably making MORE cats, you know?), but at the same time, if trapping them means they will be euthanized when they go to the shelter, that's something big to have on my shoulders, too.
I'm not sure our town has a TNR program (please forgive me for saying this, but we're in a somewhat rural state, where if you have a problem animal, you get your shotgun, sadly), but I know there are at LEAST 7 cats (I think it was a mom and her now teen children, as 4 of them are all black and they hang around with the female), and I can't afford $700 to spay/neuter these animals (to have mine done was over $200, but I had the bloodwork done, the catheter, etc) on my own.
ALSO, I don't know where they'd release them. And then there's the task of going door-to-door to make sure these aren't someone's "pets," even though they're clearly NOT pets, you know? You never know. I know they are living under my neighbor's porch (they slip through the cinder blocks).
*sigh* I just am at a loss, because I feel responsible just for knowing there's no way they are neutered, but at the same time, I don't know how the whole thing works. I want to do right by the neighborhood, and if possible, the cats, who aren't doing anything WRONG -- they don't know any better.
And P.S. I'm sorry if this is in the wrong place, I'm not sure which area of the forum it should be in.