After a Northeast Baltimore church banned the feeding of feral cats, many advocates started picketing outside the church. The church was complaining that the cats had created a disturbance to the practitioners and their droppings were left all over their lawn, creating an unpleasant scene for the church.
A group of volunteers from the trap-neuter-return program were protesting against the church's decision to disband the feeding station where the cat colonies constantly roamed in. However, more people were joining the other side of the fence, urging the church to lift the ban immediately.
A feline advocacy group sent a mediator to have a dialogue with the church. Eventually, the church gave a green light to canceling the ban if the feeding station could be moved to a more remote area. Also, they agreed to encourage the neighborhood to help get their cats spayed and neutered.
There have been many debates over what we should do with feral cats. They are often perceived as animals that scavenge for food at the dumpster, gathering other feral cats to form a colony, and carrying diseases that might transmit to humans and/or other pets. That's where trap-neuter-return program comes to rescue (How to Conduct Trap-Neuter-Return). Cats are beautiful animals. Unfortunately many shelters do not accept feral cats because they do not believe that they are able to be domesticated. However, many feral organizations offer techniques to help people successfully bring feral cats to their home. Most of the feral cats that are captured usually end up being killed. Trap-neuter-return program is a no kill organization dedicated to giving those beautiful furries a chance to live.
Please spay and neuter your companion animals!
Image:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Feral_cat_Virginia_crop.jpg