Final Project

The TNR(Trap-Neuter-Return) Program

Feral cats live in colonies. While a number of feral cats live in colonies by themselves, many colonies are fed and provided for by a caretaker from the neighborhood. This caretaker provides shelters, food, and water.

Feral cats avoid all human contact and run away if a human gets close to them.

Zoeann Campbell, vice president of Nonlethal Options For Animals (NOA), promotes the TNR(Trap-Neuter-Return) program and cares for roaming cats. TNR is a proven procedure designed to control and decrease number of roaming cats. Here she organizes documents to keep track of each cat in the program.

Tiger was rescued from the rain and adopted by Zoeann. His tipped ear indicates that he has been neutered so he will not be trapped again in the future.

Zoeann keeps seven cats in her apartment’s basement and backyard. Most of them used to be roaming cats before she adopted them. Here, Zoeann feeds them dinner.

Dr. Bianca examines Bella, one of Zoeann’s house cats who is pregnant. Bella was bitten and got pregnant by an FIV (or feline HIV) positive male feral cat that came over a cat enclosure. Zoeann says the spay/neuter helps to change those feral cats’ aggressive attitude.

Dr. Bianca and Zoeann discuss if Bella should give birth to kittens or abort them. This is an issue because Bella might be infected with FIV from getting bitten by a feral male cat. They decided she should give birth to the litter.

The box traps are used to capture feral cats prior to bringing them to the spay/neuter clinic. Traps are necessary to deal with feral cats that can not be touched and can be too aggressive. Traps also protect trappers from getting bitten or getting a disease from feral cats.

Zoeann prepares to trap cats in one of the colonies for an appointment at the Spay/Neuter Clinic the next day. She spreads tuna all over the traps to attract feral cats.

Zoeann places two traps near food stations in colonies. Trap doors will closed when a feral cat steps on trip plate trying to get tuna in traps. Traps don’t hurt cats at all.

A feral cat in the trap. The cat will be brought to the clinic the next day to get evaluated, vaccinated, and neutered. The blue sheet in the trap is to keep cat warm all the time.

The Feral and Stray Cat Spay/Neuter Clinic is located in a rented trailer in Northeast Philadelphia. The clinic holds a SPAY-ATHON day once a month to help feral cats. The clinic is one of its kind that deals with feral cats with the low cost of twenty dollars for each cat. The clinic, which is operated by six volunteer veterinarians, is an important function of TNR in Philadelphia.


Barb Riebman (right), vice president of Mobilization for Animals Pennsylvania, helps a trapper to register their trapped cat’s prior treatment. Registration and identifying each cat is an important to return them to their colony.

A cat waits for his turn to be treated. Feral cats are separated into male, female, and unknown prior to operation. Many cats arrives the clinic as unknown because feral cats can not be touched by humans. Cats are put under anesthesia so that it removes pains and it makes feral cats touchable during operation.

Dr. Don Shields, co-founder and a volunteer veterinarian at the clinic are handed a cat prior to operation.

A volunteer veterinarian vaccinates feral cats.

One-quarter of the cat’s ear is clipped after she/he has a neuter surgery. A tipped ear is an indication of a neutered animal so that it doesn’t have to be trapped again.

The recovery room in the clinic. The recovery room is an important place where the cat gets final treatment such as combing and nail clipping.

A cat recovers from anesthesia in the recovery room. Cats are released after they are recovered from surgery. They are either returned to their own colonies or adopted to new home.

On this SPAY-ATHON day in April, 30 cats were fixed. The clinic will be open again in May for another Spay-ATHON day.