Trap-neuter-return volunteers insist that only they can feed the cats
When volunteers are engaged in a TNR program only they are allowed to feed the cats. If kindhearted individuals happen to be passing by the feral cat colony managed by these volunteers and decide to put down food for them they will disrupt the work of the TNR volunteers.
This is because the food put down by people other than the volunteers pulls the cat’s away from areas where the feral cat advocates are trapping the cats and monitoring them.
Photo by Saul Marquez.
Brooklyn Bridge Park
This problem of outsiders feeding feral cats in a managed colony is happening in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The feral cats of the park are managed by the Brooklyn Bridge Park Animal Welfare Coalition. The members of this coalition are irritated by people feeding their cats. They have put up signs requesting that people should not feed the cats but park users are ignoring them. Most people don’t notice the signs.
This has resulted in the cats evading the traps put down by members of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Animal Welfare Coalition. The knock-on effect, the coalition says, is that the cats have been left unchecked and are now threatening wildlife particularly around Pier One.
This in turn may cause problems by people who don’t like cats. The coalition says that not everyone is fond of the felines. Amen to that.
It is an interesting thought that volunteers who manage feral cat colonies under TNR programs dislike it when other people feed the cats. I wonder if they could put a sign up which doesn’t say “stop feeding the cats” but asks people to feed the cat in a designated area where they can be monitored and trapped by the volunteers.
Has anybody else involved in TNR programs encountered this particular problem? If so please leave a comment. I sense that there is a slight problem with volunteers involved in TNR. They don’t like other people to interfere because it disrupts their work. However, it may be difficult to avoid the involvement of outsiders.