Therefore, according to Norwood resident Beata Gianni, a volunteer at
Animal Allies said, that eradicating feral cats is not the solution as they play a major role in maintaining the ecological balance.
Gianni helps in sterilizing feral cats using a method called Trap-Neuter-Release which helps in greatly reducing the population of feral cats.
The process involves trapping the cats using a humane cat trap, having each of them sterilized and their ear clipped, which is necessary for identification so that they will not be trapped again. They are then released back to exactly where they came from.
“Trap, sterilise them and release them to the natural environment, as they cannot be taken somewhere else because they are very territorial. If you take a feral cat and move it somewhere else the cat can die,” said Gianni.
She said these methods improve the lives of feral cats and their relationship with people living near them and decreases the size of the colonies over time.
“There are so many feral cats around and it is so sad not enough is being done to prevent overpopulation, and it is so simple just to sterilise. One cat and its offspring will produce half a million in 10 years’ time,” she said.