Community cats can be ferals or friendly strays. The term encompasses all felines outside who are free-roaming. Community cats make up about 2/3 of the cats who end up in shelters and may be euthanized because they are often not adoptable or the shelter is full as it has to prioritize contracted areas and owner surrenders. Taking a feral to a shelter could mean death for the cat if the shelter doesn't know where to return the cat to after spay/neuter and if they don't have a barn cat or "working cat" program. There's a lot that depends on the specific shelter and the circumstances of the cat itself.
In Berks County, we are lucky to have the Animal Rescue League (ARL) who can provide some limited help with feral relocation, TNR services to the public (when they are able to operate), and of course, animal control officers. The ARL may not often take ferals because relocation is a very lengthy and specific process but they will tell you honestly whether or not a cat can be helped or what you need to do in your unique situation. If you take a cat to the Humane Society who is feral, they also have a working cat program, but it is not always up and running. Resources for this is very limited (see the post about it). We are also lucky in that we have Berks Cats in Crisis (501c3 earned 2022). They will help get medical care for community cats. I have personally utilized this group to help an injured feral cat.
Now, here's the real controversial aspect of community cats that I hadn't heard about until earlier this year: shelters have taken to a new policy where friendly strays are being TNRed. I've come across several people who have found these friendly unowned cats with ear tips and were mad that they had been TNRed. It's important that the public be aware of this practice and its implications for you and the cats, but let's not demonize the shelters doing the best they can in a bad situation of over-population. We want the shelters to be "no-kill" but we cannot expect them to operate efficiently when they are over capacity without having to make to changes.
In the last two years, we've seen a lot of changes and faced a lot of challenges as the public and as shelters/recues. During COVID-19's worst moments in 2020, we were all stuck at home. Many of us added new pets to our homes as we had more time to devote to puppies, rescue dogs, and new cats. When people returned to work, some mistakenly believed the animals wouldn't cope without us and returned them to adoption centers, rehomed them, or surrendered them. That started the first extra wave influx that rescues and shelters were seeing. After that, 2022 brought us what no one wants to say out loud - recession and excessive inflation. We have a housing crisis and what people can afford to rent often won't allow pets. Now, otherwise responsible and loving pet owners are having to surrender their beloved pets because they have little other options.
In the face of so much largely unexpected influx of animals, there simply isn't enough room for all of the community cats. So shelters have taken to getting them fixed and vaccinated then returning them where found. This is a good thing in general! The majority of these cats will be okay and some might even be returning to an owner who hadn't been getting them fixed/vaccinated and isn't on the internet. An unfortunate few will be those who were once owned and found themselves dumped and unable to care for themselves properly. These are the sickly and thin cats you see. Care for them if you can, check for a microchip, and if able find them a safe place to land for good. Always ask for a vet reference and call it before you do this and always make sure to the best of your ability that the cat isn't owned. (Talk to neighbors, check for chip, post online, make flyers...etc).
So while this may make us sometimes mad and sometimes sad, please continue to support our shelters. They're doing really hard work and they're not always appreciated for it.
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