It is no longer enough to just set out food for community cats, a community cat colony caregiver must also actively practice Trap Neuter Vaccinate Return (TNVR) as well as work alongside neighbors to mitigate any nuisance behaviors. As the voice for your colony cats, you must build good relationships with neighbors, be understanding to neighbors’ concerns and be proactive about resolving those concerns. Poor relationships with neighbors can jeopardize the well-being of the cats.

Community cat colony caretakers must also be aware of the ordinances which may impact the colony and work with local officials to ensure they can practice TNVR without issue. If there are ordinances in place which prohibit the proper management of a colony, such as feeding bans, the colony caretaker should communicate with local officials to change the ordinance.

For help or questions on local ordinance in Allegheny County please contact Carol at CWhaley@ThinkingOutsideTheCage.org.

To read more about community cats, we recommend visiting www.alleycat.org or www.neighborhoodcats.org.