TNVR in Pinellas County
Monday, October 21, 2024
Cathy Unruh is a board member of Friends of Strays. Cathy got to know our organization when we performed surgeries for the TNVR non-profit she co-founded, MEOW Now – which has since merged into Friends of Strays as our community cat program. MEOW Now also supports self-trapping by citizens, who bring cats in on their own.
October. It brings the hope of cooler temperatures; the anticipation of ghosts and goblins; the tease of tricks or treats; the certainty of community cats. There is even an October day designated to consider and celebrate these nearly ubiquitous creatures: National Feral Cat Day, October 16th.
When National Feral Cat Day started back in 2001, these outdoor, free-roaming, unowned cats were called “feral” even though the descriptor does not apply to all of them. Some are indeed “wild” and untamed, having been born outside and never domesticated, while others once knew the comforts of living with humans until they were abandoned or lost, and still others became friendly with their caregivers - the compassionate citizens who provide food, water, shelter, and other care to community cats.
Pinellas County is estimated to have over 160,000 community cats. This is admittedly guesswork to some degree, but here is a hard fact: these cats need to be spayed or neutered in order to slow and, ideally, stop population growth. How does that happen for a community cat? Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return, or TNVR.
Friends of Strays provides TNVR through its MEOW Now program. In coordination with caregivers, MEOW Now traps the cats, brings them in for spay or neuter surgery and vaccinations, and returns them after a short recovery period. Now let’s revisit that number above: over 160,000. Cats. To be trapped. How does this even begin to happen? Only with volunteers. We have a handful, when we could use an army.
Getting out in the field and doing TNVR is some of the most gratifying work you can do. Trust me on this. Or trust Lucy, pictured with me after I brought her home – as a friendly kitten - from an overseas TNVR mission back in the mid-2000s. (That notch in her left ear is the universal symbol of a free-roaming cat who has been spayed or neutered.) Lucy has since crossed the Rainbow Bridge, but her legacy lives on, right here in Pinellas County, where the work she helped to inspire goes on.
Join us! There are many ways you can support our TNVR program, from trapping to cat care and cleaning. If you're interested in volunteering for MEOW Now, send an email to our Volunteer Manager, Mary, at mary@friendsofstrays.org.
