Returning a cat to where they were found is part of what makes TNR so effective.
Cats are territorial animals.
They’re attached to their outdoor homes: whether it’s an alley, yard, or empty lot.
They’re attached to their outdoor homes: whether it’s an alley, yard, or empty lot.
If you move them somewhere else, they:
- Try to go back
- Get into fights
- Spread out in unpredictable ways
- Or sadly, don’t survive
By returning the cat after surgery:
- They live in a space they already understand
- They stop reproducing
- They hold that territory, which helps prevent new unaltered cats from moving in...this is called the vacuum effect.
Abandonment is illegal.
Return is not abandonment.
It’s the final — and most essential — part of the solution.