The Neil Meade TNR Program

What is TNR?
Trap-neuter-return is a program in which outdoor (feral) cats are humanely trapped, spayed or neutered, vaccinated, ear-tipped and returned to the location where they were found. Colony caretakers provide food, water and shelter as necessary.

TNR is the most humane and effective method for stabilizing and eventually reducing outdoor cat populations. Left unsterilized, the feral cats and their offspring would continue to reproduce, potentially introducing thousands of unwanted cats into the community.

Benefits of TNR

  • Stabilizes feral cat colonies
  • Trap-Neuter-Return quickly stabilizes feral cat populations by ending a female cats reproductive cycle.
  • Eliminates or minimizes nuisance behaviors such as roaming, spraying/marking by males, fighting and noisy mating encounters.

Cats live longer

  • Cats are vaccinated against rabies.
  • Studies show that after neutering, cats become healthier and gain weight.
  • Outdoor cats in managed colonies live longer thanks to TNR.

Benefits of the Neil Meade TNR Program:

  • Choose one of three veterinary centers with highly skilled veterinarians in Detroit, Rochester Hills or Westland.
  • No charge sterilization for certified colony caretakers under the Neil Meade TNR program.
  • Certification is done via a series of webinars and you work at your own pace.
  • Access to the Michigan Humane Feral Cat Colony Caretakers Facebook page, offering caretakers a venue to exchange ideas, ask questions and seek the support of other caretakers.
  • Michigan Humane subsidizes a portion of the cost of live traps for certified caretakers. 

TNR is endorsed by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals as “the most humane, effective and financially sustainable strategy controlling free-roaming cat populations” and “the only proven humane and effective method to manage feral cat colonies.”