Feral cat colonies and TNR: what they are and how to help
In almost every neighbourhood in Spain there are cats living on the street. For decades they were managed badly, or not at all. Today Spanish law requires local councils to manage them with a specific method, TNR (known in Spain as CER), which is the only one shown to reduce colonies in a stable and ethical way.
What a feral cat colony is
Spain's Law 7/2023 defines a feline colony as a group of cats living free or semi-free, with little or no socialisation with people, that depend on people to survive. It calls these cats community cats. They are not recently abandoned cats, which are usually friendly and seek people out, but cats born or raised on the street, which are wary of people and could not live in a home. That is why the answer for them is not adoption but caring for them where they are. Colony kittens, on the other hand, can be socialised and adopted if they are taken in very young.
How TNR works
TNR stands for trap, neuter, return; in Spain it is known as CER, or CES. The colony's cats are caught in humane trap cages that do not hurt them and taken to a vet, who neuters them, gives them a health check, microchips them and makes a small cut at the tip of one ear (an ear tip) so you can tell from a distance that the cat has already been neutered. They are then returned to their colony. Friendly cats and kittens that can adjust to a home are set aside to be adopted. And the colony goes on being fed and watched, keeping track of any new cats that arrive.
Why it works and removing cats does not
For years people tried to get rid of colonies by removing the cats. It does not work: when a territory with food and shelter is emptied, new unneutered cats move in and the colony grows again, because a female can have two or three litters a year. TNR works the opposite way. A neutered colony stops growing and, over time, shrinks naturally. On top of that, many of the problems that bother neighbours disappear: the yowling of females in heat, the fights between males, urine marking and the litters that die every spring. The cats are healthier and the colony is more stable.
What the law says
In Spain, Law 7/2023 (the animal welfare law) requires local authorities to run feline colony management programmes, with a census, neutering, a health programme, protocols for disputes with neighbours and places to take cats temporarily when needed. All community cats must be neutered and identified with a microchip registered to the local authority. The regions approve framework protocols with criteria on feeding, cleaning and care, and on the training and accreditation of carers. Removing or relocating community cats outside the permitted cases is a serious offence, and killing a community cat outside the authorised cases is a very serious one. Elsewhere, check the rules where you live.
Who does the work in practice
Usually the local council manages the colonies together with animal welfare associations or volunteer carers who are authorised or accredited. The council tends to provide the funding for neutering and the permits, and the volunteers do the daily work: feeding, cleaning the feeding points, keeping an eye on the cats, spotting sick or new ones, and organising the trapping. How it is organised varies a great deal from one town to another, and in practice the law is still applied very unevenly. If you want to help, the first step is to ask your council how it works in your area.
Feeding street cats: how to do it properly
Feeding street cats with good intentions but on your own can cause problems. Leftover food that attracts rats and pigeons, clashes with neighbours and, above all, well-fed cats that keep having litters every few months because nobody neuters them. Many local by-laws in Spain also regulate where colonies can be fed and by whom. If there are cats you feed in your street, the most useful thing is to get in touch with the council or the association that manages colonies in your town. If you act as a carer, use dry food in discreet spots, clear away leftovers and keep the feeding point clean.
How to help even if you are not a carer
There are plenty of ways to lend a hand. Tell the council or the association if you see a new cat in a colony, an injured or sick cat, or a female with kittens. Donate food, blankets or money for neutering. Help with transport to the vet. Foster colony kittens that can be socialised and adopted. And something very important: neuter your own cat if it goes outside, because many colonies start or grow with pet cats that roam unneutered. It also helps a lot to explain to neighbours that TNR is not “keeping cats” but the way to end up with fewer of them.
Disputes with neighbours
Colonies sometimes lead to complaints: smells, cats in gardens, food left lying around. Many of these are solved with good management, because much of the nuisance comes from unneutered cats. Spanish law says municipal programmes must include protocols for these disputes, and that the solution cannot be to remove or harm the cats. Poisoning or abusing a cat is a crime, so if someone threatens to do it or you see signs of it, contact the local police or the Guardia Civil. And if a colony cat comes into your garden and bothers you, there are harmless deterrents; ask the association in your area.
If you find colony kittens
In spring and summer it is common to find kittens in a colony. If they are very small, the mother is usually nearby, and the best thing is not to touch them and to let the colony's carers know. If they really are alone or in danger, or are old enough to be socialised, the association can take them in, neuter the mother and find foster homes. Kittens handled gently before seven or eight weeks can become perfectly sociable house cats; after that every week counts, and a four-month-old colony kitten may never fully adapt to living with people.
TNR, trap, neuter, return, is the only method that reduces colonies in a stable way, and in Spain Law 7/2023 requires local councils to use it. If you want to help, work with your council or the association that manages the colonies, and neuter your cat if it goes outside.
Educational content from Michipedia, translated from the Spanish original. It does not replace the advice of a vet or a feline behaviour specialist. Every cat is an individual.