A New Trap-Neuter-Return Cat Program in Rehoboth?

The Rehoboth Animal Advisory Committee has been working on plans to start a Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) cat program in town. The Board of Selectmen have given enthusiastic assent for us to move forward. TNR programs permit community cats—cats in colonies, and free-ranging cats—to live their lives in a managed way that reduces the number of cats over time.

The Committee plans to conduct one or more public meetings/work sessions in which townspeople can learn from regional TNR experts and then meet together to form an initial group to help a program get started.

Please “stay tuned”! It’s too early to give a specific day for this meeting, but we didn’t want to miss this edition of the Reporter. And we might hold the first meeting before the next Reporter comes out. We’ll make announcements in other local media, post signs, and so forth, when we have settled on a date.

How does a Trap-Neuter-Return program work? Trained volunteers work with professionals to trap all of the cats in a colony, spaying/neutering adults, and then returning the cats. The individual cats will receive standard tests and vaccinations and be ear-tipped. Then, regular feeding of the colony is arranged. Kittens can be removed and put up for adoption. Similar interventions are provided for “barn cats” and other so-called semi-feral cats.

The Animal Advisory Committee is eager to “open the conversation” in Rehoboth about this approach to the cats that live at large in our community.

Richard Panofsky

Chair, Rehoboth Animal Advisory Committee

rpanofsky@umassd.edu