TNR Tani
Launch of a "community page" template to give instant feedback to the cat feeders in a community when we TNR a local animal.
CATNIP does a lot of "low intensity" TNR - there are often lots of cats in an area, being fed by multiple feeders, but the cats don't all gather in a single place, so are difficult to catch en-masse.

This often means we have to do cats in 1's and 2's, and interact with the cat-feeders in a community.

These people often wish to keep a low profile, as their activities may not be universally popular. So we have to build up trust...

We now have a little TNR project established in one area with the blessing of the local leader of the residents association. The cats are around, but "low intensity" (we will probably have to TNR 15 to 20 cats to get the immediate locality under control.) So the local project leader has been trapping cats and putting leaflets up to ask if the cat is owned or being fed.

So far we have had 3 cat feeders come forward, some of whom have TNR'd an animal here and there. They know where the cats are, and how best to catch them.

We don't like just ripping animals off the street that are being maintained, unless they are injured - it can be distressing for the feeders if a cat just disappears and we try to avoid distress unless it is necessary.

It is particularly an issue with people feeding cats that are clearly sick - they want us to vet the cat, but aren't keen on our policy of not returning sick FeLV+ animals. (We don't blood-test healthy TNR animals unless they have kittens, but leave it to the vet to decide about testing sick animals.) Euthanasia is always sensitive - CATNIP took a policy decision, early on, that we would talk about it in an open way.

People get attached to the cats they maintain, we quite understand their qualms and concerns. So we have to tread sensitively.

As part of being sensitive, we are trying to give immediate feedback when we take an animal. So we have created a community page, with the animals from that area displayed. When animals are with us we put them up, so people know they have not just "disappeared". The QR code for the (Japanese version) of the site will be put in the local community folder that is passed around, so people can see what animals we have and which have been returned.

If you are interested, the links are here:

[Note: one picture is a bit graphic. This cat is at the vet now.]

English

https://catnip.or.jp/en/tnr/tani-1-chome/

Japanese

https://catnip.or.jp/ja/tnr/tani-1-chome/

Posted in: TNR / Outreach News