Ownership of Feral Cats, Microchipping, etc.

So my local low cost spay/neuter program offers a number of service packages. The cheapest one is their "Community Cat Package." It is designed for stray and feral cats and includes a free microchip, as well as a 3 year rabies, spay/neuter, and a left eartip.

I'm completely perplexed, though, why anyone would think that feral cats should be microchipped. If a feral cat is by definition, "unowned," why chip them, especially if they are ear tipped? Whose information would go on the chip? 

Honestly, if microchipping of ferals was required, I would pass on doing TNR. Microchipping, to me, means that I'm pledging my undying love and devotion and lifelong care. My personal housecats are chipped, because I can promise them a forever home and will take care of them for the rest of their natural lives. Two cats is the highest number of cats that I can make that promise to. I cannot transport a colony of 14 feral cats with me everywhere that I might move to for the rest of my life or theirs. I just can't.

Do you think that they provide free microchipping as an incentive to entice people to ear tip their housecats? I know that people with any type of cat are allowed to use that option, not just true ferals.

Thoughts?

This is interesting. Yes, I know people with very low income (as well as others) do opt for the cheaper option to take a cat in as a feral, but it is really their personal cat. So, offering to chip them could be beneficial.

As for true ferals...
Microchipping them could be beneficial in the sense that you could contact someone to determine where the cat's territory is and when a rabies (if any) was administered in the event of a bite incident. (Immunology says that these vaccines actually last 7+ years, it's just not FDA approved for this...yet.)

I so wish I had microchipped the feral cats I have.  I have worked so hard with these cats and all are more semi feral now.  They would never approach another human, but I often worry when they wander.  I had the option years ago when I did TNR.  I never at the time thought they would become socialized enough to warrant a micro chip.  Looking back it would have been a good idea.  You just never know how the cat will respond years later when working on socialization.

I too so wished I had microchipped my first group of TNR. One of the boys in that group was a total sweetheart, totally trusting. One day he got chased away by a new unknown intact male that was very territorial and aggressive. He chased him across the street into the yards, I heard a dust up. Well, the TNR boy didn't come back for a while while this new unknown intact male was around sleeping and eating. It took me a while to get him into a trap as I still had to feed the existing female TNR cats. The male that I loved never showed up again, I thought he was just afraid. Well, a neighbor (unknown to me) decided to trap and take cats to animal control where of course thee were killed after 10 days. Not knowing this I never checked animal control, I thought the boy was just hunting and hanging out somewhere else. I did 19 cats in the first TNR and only 5 hung around (4 females and the 1 male the son of one of the females) so I have no idea where all the others went or if they are still alive. He was ear tipped but it didn't matter. My dear boy was killed at animal control. I regret to this day I did not have them microchipped, I was new to it and the vet didn't even mention that I should microchip, just ear tip.  I would have taken him in if I knew he was at animal control. To this day I regret my decision. I loved that guy and think of him often.  RIP my dear boy.

I talked to someone from the low cost spay/neuter program today and she explained it to me. The purpose of it is so that if they get picked up and taken to the shelter, the colony caretaker can be contacted. It doesn't make me liable for them if I move from the area and can't take them. If I'm a colony caretaker, I just have to notify others that I'm moving and another caretaker will be found for the colony.