Cat Rescue Network

There are hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of homeless kittens and cats within our region.

Human apathy and neglect have forced them to forage to survive. They congregate in parks, wooded areas, and alleyways wherever they can find food and shelter. Forced to live a miserable, dangerous existence they become helpless victims of the cold, disease, accidents and cruel predators, including humans.

Few kittens survive the winters. Alley cats are not domestic but neither are they wild; so there is no formal organization within Ottawa willing to accept responsibility for them.
Many caring volunteers provide whatever help they can. Some provide an occasional meal, others allow the cats to live under their porches or in rudimentary shelters. However, when left primarily on their own to forage, and without access to veterinary care, the dismal existence of most alley cats can best be described as a lingering death.

In the last few years feral cats have become the focus of numerous studies. The abundance of information on the alley cat phenomenon has refuted many preconceived opinions about the animals. For example, alley cats are not vicious, a health hazard or a primary vector species. Alley cats are furtive scavengers who tend to avoid people. As such they pose minimal risk to public health, in fact, they have historically been recognized as beneficial because they control vermin. Many adult alley cats can be domesticated because they once lived in homes before they were lost or abandoned.

The most humane, and ultimately the most successful way, to reduce the numbers of alley cats is through variations of the Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) method. Many feral cat colony keepers expand TNR to include vaccination and domestication whenever possible. The domesticated cats are placed in homes, and the wilder cats are cared for in managed colonies. The existing cats in a colony will keep the cat numbers down by chasing away most interlopers. The colony size remains stable, and even shrinks because it's members are sterilized. Cats gradually learn to trust the colony keeper- a factor, which permits regular veterinary care.