The Fight Over Ferals

Can we put all feral cats in sanctuaries? Of course not! But there are people out there who really say it's the answer!

For Tommy and Tyson, coming to Best Friends was, indeed, the answer to their special needs. They were a very special case: These two feral brothers were living in a Los Angeles suburb. One of the brothers was blind, the other acted as his guide. When the person who had been watching over them had to move, she couldn't find anyone to take her place. Tommy and Tyson would have had a very hard time on their own.

And Eastwood (pictured above right) is a feral cat from Dallas. Someone had trapped him years ago, but then kept him locked in a cage. A local cat group heard about Eastwood and came to his rescue. But what were they to do with him? After all those years, Eastwood couldn't be returned to his old stomping grounds. And as a feral cat, he couldn't be adopted into a home. So coming to Best Friends was the answer for him, too. Along with all the other dogs and cats and other animals at the sanctuary, Best Friends is home, on any given day, to about 400 feral cats like Tommy, Tyson and Eastwood.

The Best Friends WildCats Village

Our WildCats Village has 14 specially designed rooms, where the cats live in groups of 20 to 30, and enjoy indoor comforts and spacious outdoor runs. Natural wood trees lead up to catwalks that crisscross the ceiling and cat toys are liberally strewn about the floor.

The four WildCats buildings cost over $620,000 to construct (not including the land) and of course there are ongoing maintenance and staff costs. Eight staff members attend to the daily needs of the feral cats, and there are two veterinarians on the staff.

In other words, looking after feral cats at a sanctuary is a major undertaking. It's a last option for ferals with very special needs. But for most others, it's not the answer - even if we could bring them all here.

Still, hundreds of people across the country call Best Friends each month to ask for help with their local feral cats.

Are more sanctuaries the answer?

No. Not only is it very costly to build and maintain sanctuaries, but being rounded up and put into facilities is not the best option for the cats.

Even Wildcats Village is not an easy adjustment for feral cats who are used to the freedom and familiarity of their home turf and the other cats in their colony.

In any case, there's a far more effective, cost-efficient, and humane way to help ferals.

So what is the solution?

We recommend trap/neuter/return (TNR) as the most humane and cost effective way to help feral cats. At Best Friends, we run a free TNR program for all the nearby communities.

Our No More Homeless Pets in Utah campaign provides $10 vouchers for neutering feral cats across the state, and the Big Fix mobile spay-neuter van travels the state fixing feral cats (and pet cats and dogs) at deeply discounted prices. These three programs combined neuter several thousand feral cats each year.

In Los Angeles, Best Friends sponsors Catnippers, a monthly free spay/neuter clinic for feral cats. Since the program was launched in 1999, over 2,500 ferals have been neutered, and 100 more are fixed each month.

And through the Best Friends Network of more than 12,000 volunteers nationwide, we've been part of helping many other successful TNR efforts in communities from Maine to California.

For feral cats, "home" is always the turf they have staked out, be it a barn, alley, industrial park, or suburban backyard. Our part is getting them fixed and lending a helping hand in terms of food and shelter wherever we can.

If you need help with a local feral colony or additional information on feral cats, please email the Best Friends Network at bfnetwork@bestfriends.org or call 435-644-2001 ext. 123.

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