Cat advocates have been working for decades to find methods to help curb the problem of free-roaming cats, and trap-neuter-vaccinate-return (TNVR) has emerged as a popular, humane method to manage community cat populations. While popular, the method’s impacts on animal shelter populations and euthanasia rates had yet to be carefully measured over a long period of time, until recently. In a study of six municipal shelter systems with well-implemented programs, Peter J. Wolf and Dan Spehar found that TNVR is a win/win/win for shelters, communities, and feral cat populations. In this interview, we explore their research in greater detail and discuss how average people can make a difference.

I think a lot of our readers are probably familiar with TNR in a general way. When did this start being a technique that communities were using to help control free-roaming cats, and how has it developed over time since then?