This face could be “The Face of TNR”

This is a great picture taken by Darren McDonald of TNR volunteer Christy Moschopedis. There’s a small gray tabby kitten in a trap. Christy looks at her with gentleness. Christy wears gloves to avoid being scratched or bitten, although the fiercest bite still hurts. Christy and her co-volunteer, Jill Robertson, have caught 59 cats from a feral cat colony in one cul-de-sac in Chilliwack, USA.

The face of TNR
Christy the face of TNR. Photo: Darren McDonald. Source: Sooke News Mirror

The women are part of a volunteer group carrying out a successful TNR program. There are more feral cats to catch. They’ll be vaccinated, neutered and either adopted out or returned to where they came from.

In the summer Christy said that the feral cat population exploded. If the summers were particularly warm I wonder whether they contributed to the explosion in the feral cat population.

It seems that a number of rescue centers and organisations are involved in the adoption of the cats. Some of them awaiting adoption are at Heart and Soul Dog and Cat Rescue Society, Vancouver Orphaned Kitten Rescue Association, Therapy and Rescue Society and Chilliwack Animal Safe Haven.

I thought the photograph on this page was perhaps the best that I have seen of volunteers working in trap-neuter-release programs. Christy’s face looking up towards the kitten is one of kindness and gentleness. It’s a good, attractive and strong face which is why I think it could be the face of TNR in the USA.

I have no connection with her and I don’t know her but this is a really cool photo. It is kindness which underpins trap-neuter-release programs. It’s that innate kindness which is expressed in animal welfare through thousands of TNR programs in the US. The hunters project the opposite: aggression and hate.

I always advocate TNR over mass hunting of feral cats. The hunters think that TNR is a complete failure but they cannot suggest a viable alternative. Trying to hunt to extinction all the feral cats in America is completely impractical, politically unacceptable and doomed to failure There would be total uproar among the millions of animal advocates in the country. This is the alternative put forward by the feral cat hunters. And if TNR was funded by the taxpayer it would be more widespread and effective. If TNR is not as effective as it might be it is because it is run by volunteers using their own money.

Feral cat hunters might argue that mass extinctions through hunting work sometimes but they are referring to smallish, confined areas such islands. When you discuss extermination of all feral cats in a country the size of America the concept becomes laughable. Plus, as I always say, shooting feral cats is inherently immoral.

4 thoughts on “This face could be “The Face of TNR””

  1. The author of the best comment will receive an Amazon gift of their choice at Christmas! Please comment as they can add to the article and pass on your valuable experience.
  2. Australia is 1.2 times as big as the lower 48 US states. They are killing feral cats because that’s what’s necessary to protect their native wildlife. Sterilizing cats doesn’t prevent them from slaughtering native animals. Killing them and incinerating their carcasses to destroy the pathogens and parasites they carry does.

    Reply
    • So you admit that you have to behave immorally and inhumanely to clean up the mess that you (Aussies) created. Well done. It won’t work and all you will achieve is pain for millions of animals. Brilliant.

      Reply
      • Telling the world over and over again how much that you hate and despise all our native wildlife on all continents; and even in our oceans (cats’ Toxoplasma gondii destroying thousands of rare marine mammals today, from dolphins to seals to even rare whales); and your wishing all the animals of all the world would suffer to death at the paws of your cats JUST because of your desperate need to pet something furry in your lap, isn’t working. Try another tactic. (You loneliness must be so great that you are willing to sacrifice all the animals of the world to death by torture just so you have some company in life. How very sad that is.)

        Destroy any one invasive-species cat = save the lives of thousands of valuable native animals. That’s the TRUE suffering-animal equation. Saving NATIVE wildlife from being tortured to death by being disemboweled-alive or skinned-alive and left to suffer to death for your cats’ discarded play-toys, or the offspring of valuable native wildlife left to starve to death after the parents are killed or after your cats have destroyed all of their ONLY food-sources. All done to NATIVE animals that actually belong here tortured to death by just ONE of your invasive-species cats.

        If you want to end the slow torturous deaths of thousands of animals that actually belong on this planet then you must begin with destroying any one free-roaming cat, NO MATTER HOW you have-to accomplish that.

        Throw some more cats into traffic or in front of loaded guns with another TNR program and then tell everyone how proud you are of convincing everyone to torture cats to death too.

        Don’t you realize how obvious you are about how much that you truly love torturing animals to death? Even cats. Otherwise TNR would be stricken from your vocabulary. Yes, you’re that obvious.

        Reply
        • “Telling the world over and over again how much that you hate and despise all our native wildlife on all continents; and even in our oceans (cats’ Toxoplasma gondii destroying thousands of rare marine mammals today, from dolphins to seals to even rare whales); and your wishing all the animals of all the world would suffer to death at the paws of your cats JUST because of your desperate need to pet something furry in your lap, isn’t working. “

          This is bullshit. I don’t do this and you are a damned idiot for saying I do. I love all wildlife you moron. Don’t comment further as you are too irritating.

          Reply

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