Cats are social animals and a common sight on the streets of many cities in Europe and around the world. The furry felines can be a joy to watch and have around and sometimes a noisy nuisance, especially at night when mating season is on.
The Department of Welfare in Tarragona has decided to initiate a pilot project, which will ensure tighter management of the existing feral cat colonies in the city. For starters, this will involve 16 of these colonies and the aim is to provide better care for the animals, more peaceful living for the human residents and stronger protection for the local architectural heritage.
TNR stands for the trap-neuter-return model of cat colonies management
The town council has set aside 20 000 euros to that project, a quarter of which will go for the purchasing of things, such as drinking troughs, sandboxes and shelter elements, all of which are necessary for the creation of an orderly cat colony, even if it is composed of street cats.
The rest of the money will be spent on veterinary services. The aim here is implement the TNR (trap-neuter-return) approach, which includes taking care of their health. This involves not only sterilization, but also vaccination and deworming, as well as earmarking.
Cats live in colonies because they are social animals but in this case, the idea is to upgrade the concept of a cat colony to something that resembles a semi-domestic community, linking cats to their preferred environment with the installation of sandboxes and troughs.
These initiatives are carried out by four non-profit organizations in Tarragona who receive the funding from the local administration. The evaluation of the pilot project will be done in the first quarter of next year in order to determine whether to expand it.
Source: TheMayor.EU
