Euthanasia due to homelessness is the largest cause of death in cats.
Estimates place the number of homeless cats in Toronto at between 20,000 and 100,000.
Assuming a pair of cats are left to breed at will, they have two litters per year and 2.8 surviving kittens per litter, the result is a staggering 80 million cats. Source: American Humane Association
First year
Second year
Third year
Fourth year
Fifth year
Sixth year
Seventh year
Eight year
Ninth year
Tenth year
12
66
382
2,201
12,680
73,041
420,715
2,423316
13,968,290
80,399,780
Trap Neuter Return (TNR) programs are proven to be the only humane and effective way to manage feral cat overpopulation. TNR involves trapping, sterilizing, vaccinating, ear tipping and returning cats to their colony – kittens and socialized cats are adopted and a caretaker feeds and monitors the colony daily. TNR is proven.
TNR has been practiced for over 20 years in the UK, South Africa and Denmark. After 1-3 years of TNR colony sizes decrease by 16-32% (Natoli 2006). TNR is an effective long term strategy to stabilize or modestly reduce the size of feral cat colonies as well as improve the health of these cats (Levy, 2003)
Trap Neuter Return is supported by:
American Animal Hospital AssociationAmerican Association of Feline PractitionersHumane Society of the United StatesAmerican Veterinary Medical AssociationAmerican Society for Prevention of Cruelty to AnimalsAssociation of Shelter VeterinariansAnd almost all other major animal welfare organizations including local animal rescue organizations in Toronto
Toronto Humane Society provides access to free TNR for feral cats through our Spay Neuter Services.
Toronto Humane Society is a proud member of the Toronto Feral Cat Coalition (TFCC). The Toronto Feral Cat Coalition includes:
Animal Alliance
Annex Cat Rescue
Ontario SPCA
Toronto Animal Services
Community Cats Toronto
Toronto Humane Society
Toronto Street Cats
In 2017, Toronto Humane Society conducted research using a Geographic Information System (GIS) to estimate the community cat population more accurately. The aim of this study was to enhance the work of the TNR services provided by Toronto Humane Society, and the organizations in the TFCC.
You can read summarized findings from this research here.
Toronto Humane Society works with Toronto Street Cats to build winter shelters for feral cats. To date more than 2,000 over wintering shelters have been built.
Visit https://torontostreetcats.com/diy/ for more information.
In order to access free TNR surgeries through the Toronto Humane Society Spay/Neuter Services, you must have taken the Trap Neuter Return Certification Course.
For more information on Trap Neuter Return Certification Course dates and locations please visit Community Cats Toronto.
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