NACC firmly believes that the “R” in “TNR” is for “return.” We receive periodic requests to “relocate” community cats, and we will almost always turn down these requests. This often seems to surprise folks, so we’d like to talk a little bit about why we use “relocation” only as a very last, inescapable resort.

The most important reason we don’t relocate cats is this: it’s not good for the cats. Cats are animals who are very attached to their territory, doubly so if it is the same territory they’ve known their whole lives. And this attachment to location runs even deeper when they connect their home territory with a regular food source. They are also incredibly social creatures whose colonies form an extended family unit. We don’t believe taking a cat away from the only place he has ever known and the strong social structure he needs to feel secure is anything but a very last resort, and for this reason we will almost universally decline to participate in relocation efforts, instead inquiring about the details of a situation and assessing possible better solutions to help with.

Coming up on the heels of “it’s not good for them” is “it often doesn’t work well.” Even a cat who has been through a properly deployed relocation and acclimation program (see below) may leave the new location once released to her own devices and try to make her way home. Not only does this present significant risk to the cat during the journey, but it completely invalidates the point of moving the cat. If by some miracle the cat survives the journey and returns what is left of its original colony, it is unlikely to be welcomed back in after such a long time.

Properly done, the process of relocating and acclimating feral cats to a new location is arduous. It requires trappers who are knowledgeable not only about trapping itself but about the dynamics of cat populations and colonies. It requires a new site that is suitable for multiple cats, as no feral cat should ever be relocated alone, and it requires that the site be assessed in person for suitability. The new site requires a dedicated caregiver and adequate shelter for post-acclimation purposes, but also a site for confinement during the acclimation process. And it requires at least a month of confinement (we have partners that recommend 2-3 months minimum, in their experience) in a closed building or a pen set up in an open building, stringently regular feeding and care schedules, and a caregiver willing to visit and speak with the cats on a regular basis. It is a massive undertaking, and one with a not insignificant rate of failure.

Removing a colony, or even a number of cats from a colony, can create a vacuum effect and will simply lead to more feral cats—often unaltered and unvaccinated—moving into the old colony’s territory. And now the site is back where it started.

On a very pragmatic level, we don’t participate in relocation because we believe that the vast majority of issues that folks think will be solved by relocation can in fact be solved via education and a little effort. A properly TNR’d colony is able to be kept to a manageable size and has received vaccinations and surgeries—no more kittens running around. If there is an issue with a neighboring property, we have recommended humane methods to keep cats away from a particular spot. If the issue is the property owner doesn’t want to care for them, there may be someone local who would be willing to assume the caregiver role. People jump straight to “relocation” for “problem cats,” when what they should be doing is looking at “mitigation.”

Also on the pragmatic side, relocations require an enormous amount of time and manpower. They are a months-long process often covering many miles and many hours. The same amount of money, hours and miles traveled to relocate 3 cats can be the same amount that lets us TNR 30 cats—and this is all after realizing that relocation is almost always NOT a necessity.

If there is a legitimate safety issue, that would of course be an exception. If a colony site is being torn down, bulldozed, and repurposed into apartments buildings, that will not be a safe site for the cats, and even given the chances of failure, it still may be the best thing to try. A colony that has established itself on the median of a busy highway is another example of a legitimate reason to consider relocation. The death of a caretaker CAN be a reason, but we prefer to look for a new caretaker permitted to come on-site, and would consider relocation a very last option in that scenario.

We know it can be frustrating to think you have the magic solution only to be told “we don’t do that.” We are dedicated to improving the lives of both the cats AND their caregivers—and since the caregiver is the intellectual creature in this scenario, we feel that it’s our responsibility as humans to do what is best for the cats when at all possible, and to teach the caregivers how to manage the colony and mitigate the difficulties. We strive to balance the best interests of the cats involved with the best interests of the humans, and are always happy to work with folks to find strategies and solutions in any situation possible.

For more information on this topic you can take a look at the following links:

via Neighborhood Cats: https://www.neighborhoodcats.org/how-to-tnr/colony-care/relocation

via Best Friends Animal Society: https://resources.bestfriends.org/article/relocating-feral-cats

via Alley Cat Allies: https://www.alleycat.org/community-cat-care/relocation-the-last-resort/