Dear Last Hope, there is a cat hanging around my back garden but it's not my cat, what do I do?
- Contact Last Hope and book a trap. Fully refundable €50 deposit for trap hire.
- Avail of our low-cost neutering scheme with participating vets. its very affordable as Last Hope subsidize the cost.
- Establish a feeding routine morning and evening in a specific location. On the morning or evening before your vet appointment, trap the cat and bring to the vet to be neutered on the Last Hope voucher scheme. The vet will ear tip the cat so it is easily identified as being a neutered feral.
- Return the cat and provide aftercare in the form of a feeding station and shelter. For feeding stations a plastic storage box with a hole cut out and topped up regularly with dried food so the cats can come and go and eat as they please will ensure well fed cats. We would also recommend that you set up shelter for them. A plastic storage box with a hole cut out and filled with straw will suffice and provide good insulation.
Why TNR?
Last Hope endorse TNR (trap, neuter, return) a method of controlling feral cat population growth. TNR is a method through which free-roaming unowned domestic cats are humanely trapped, neutered and returned to the outdoor location where they were found. TNR is endorsed as being the most humane, effective and financially sustainable strategy to control cat over population. Last Hope endorses community based TNR programmes with ongoing responsible aftercare as the most viable long-term approach available to reduce feral cat overpopulation.
We believe the spay aware neuter programme benefits the greater cat community and also the local community as the nuisance behaviour associated with feral cats is dramatically reduced upon neutering (fighting, yowling, spraying) and it relievies female cats of the constrant stress of mating and pregnancy. The returned colony also guard their territory preventing unneutered cats from moving in and beginning the cycle of overpopulation. The cats continue to provide natural rodent control.
The Last Hope Animal Charity believes that our spay aware campaign creates opportunities for outreach, education and co-operation in the community.
