My TNR adventures

[catlady76paws]

I have been mangled, bitten, clawed, crawled through dogshit and ran around through mud the last 2 months. Here in the Netherlands TNR is not a very well known concept so I really had to pull some strings but int the end we managed to save at least a dozen lifes.

On to the cats

Set for release


I was going to release this boy as well, but he's not feeling well


And this girl was also set to go back but she turns out to be very friendly


Then you have Moon's kittens
Daemon

Templeton


Wart(Yes she needs a new name)


Found with these 3 but I suspect not the same litter as he's sooooo tiny, Peter

Caught on the first day
Puk

Dolf2(we'll probably foster fail this one...he's the spitting image of our beloved Dolf and he's so loving and sweet)


I also received a call to help with relocating semi ferals, 4 6-month old cat and 2 12-week old boys.
Fox


Her brothers(I seperated Fox after the spay because unlike her bros she has had a bigger op). The brothers are nicely lined up from friendly to not so friendly, can you guess which one?


And Panda and Garfield


This was quite the adventure but I would do it again in a heartbeat. Like I said TNR is not very well known here and I really want to educate people and help the cats

 

[calicosrspecial]

THANK YOU SO MUCH for making a difference to the health and welfare of cats!!

These dozen plus lives will actually save many thousands of lives over time and make your area better off!!

REALLY GREAT job!! I am SO PROUD of you!! THANK YOU!!!

 

[golondrina]

I admire your kindness, courage and patience catlady76paws. i have heard that there are no stray dogs in Holland. It seems then that cats are not so lucky. Where in the Netherlands are you?

 

[catlady76paws]

Northern Province of Friesland. Cats here are sometimes considered equal to pests. I try to educate people which can be a challenge and in this case I took it a step further and asked an organistion/rescue spay for me while I did the trapping and caring after the cat's ops.

 

[tabbytom]

but int the end we managed to save at least a dozen lifes.

Bless your heart!

 

[Norachan]

That's amazing! What a wonderful job you've done.

 

[white shadow]

.
WOW ! What a truly amazing job you've done !

Just a question........you're not 'ear-tipping'.......do you have another way to identify those who have been spayed/neutered ?

They all look so healthy, too........very fortunate cats, before and after !

Would there be any hope for adoption for the kittens ?
.

 

[Jcatbird]

Wishing you all the best in your efforts and the educating of others. You have done a magnificent job and opened the path for others to follow your example. The kitties are all beautiful. The world needs more people like you! Thank you! Every life counts!

 

[catlady76paws]

.
WOW ! What a truly amazing job you've done !

Just a question........you're not 'ear-tipping'.......do you have another way to identify those who have been spayed/neutered ?

They all look so healthy, too........very fortunate cats, before and after !

Would there be any hope for adoption for the kittens ?
.

The organization I took them to doesn't eartip. When I asked why she said the cats looked so sad with a bit of their ear missing. I would have preferred to see it otherwise but it was already done and I could hardly have them sedated again for an eartip.

The kittens are definitely adoptable. They still need a lot of love as they're fine in their pens but as soon as I put them in a bigger space they regress ever so slightly but I have no doubt they'll become great companions.

 

[fionasmom]

You are a true hero and I wish you the best with finding homes for the kittens. I had read, apparently erroneously, that the Netherlands had no stray animals because of their very humane and effective ability to work with those in need of a home. Maybe this meant dogs, as ferals certainly have to be universal.

 

[moxiewild]

You are a true hero and I wish you the best with finding homes for the kittens. I had read, apparently erroneously, that the Netherlands had no stray animals because of their very humane and effective ability to work with those in need of a home. Maybe this meant dogs, as ferals certainly have to be universal.

They have no stray dogs.

The Netherlands has implemented very progressive programs in order to control and eliminate the homeless dog population, including something somewhat similar to TNR.

They also mandate all dogs be neutered, provide free neutering and vaccinations (they had a rabies epidemic some time in their past, I believe, but don’t quote me on that). They also have certain days where there is free general vetting. I think they might mandate microchipping as well to deter dumping/abandonment.

They also place a high tax on dogs from breeders and pet shops to encourage adoption. And I believe their law enforcement is equipped with special units dedicated to animal protection and actually enforce animal welfare laws and they seem well equipped and sufficiently staffed to do so (huh, imagine that!).

But if I recall correctly, most of their programs and mandates solely or primarily applied to dogs rather than cats (or at least applied to pet cats and dogs, and stray/feral dogs, but not stray/feral cats).

Of course, I have no idea how things work over there, and there are variations among regions, but I was put on a brief assignment at work regarding looking into their PSVIR method (pick, sterilize, vaccinate, identify, return) a couple of years ago. We were working on a joint project with a couple of rescues to promote TNR for stray and feral dogs in San Antonio since SA has one of the worst stray/feral issues in the nation, so the PSVIR method and the Netherlands overall success eliminating their homeless dog population was of a lot of interest at the time.

Ironically, for all their progressive, compassionate policies regarding stray/feral dogs and their promotion of education and responsible dog ownership, they’ve largely failed feral cats by implementing a yearly culling of them. Their feral cat population is supposedly pretty bad and some of their native species are certainly predated on by cats, so... we all know how that goes

I know some provinces have banned cat culling in favor of TNR though, but it hasn’t quite garnered enough popularity over there compared to the US and the like. But there is hope, especially if the provinces supporting TNR implement solid, high impact programs that can produce better long term results than the areas that cull.

And It’s always good to know that people like CatLady76Paws exist and are doing their part regardless! Sucks that they didn’t eat tip though, what an odd excuse!

 

[fionasmom]

Thank you so much for that explanation. I had imagined that the very well implemented program might apply to dogs and not cats. It is sad that as progressive as they have been they cannot move a little more quickly with some remedies for the cat population as well.

 

[moxiewild]

Thank you so much for that explanation. I had imagined that the very well implemented program might apply to dogs and not cats. It is sad that as progressive as they have been they cannot move a little more quickly with some remedies for the cat population as well.

Yes, I actually felt hopeful when they first told us about because I assumed it applied equally to cats, so that was really disappointing.

Ironically, I think it was around the time or shortly after they officially reached “stray dog free” status that they initiated the annual feral cat cull. Makes you wonder what logical hoops they had to jump through to come to culling as a solution!

 

[tnrmakessense]

I have been mangled, bitten, clawed, crawled through dogshit and ran around through mud the last 2 months. Here in the Netherlands TNR is not a very well known concept so I really had to pull some strings but int the end we managed to save at least a dozen lifes.

On to the cats

Set for release
View attachment 309034View attachment 309038View attachment 309041

I was going to release this boy as well, but he's not feeling well
View attachment 309040

And this girl was also set to go back but she turns out to be very friendly
View attachment 309037

Then you have Moon's kittens
Daemon
View attachment 309035
Templeton
View attachment 309045

Wart(Yes she needs a new name)
View attachment 309047

Found with these 3 but I suspect not the same litter as he's sooooo tiny, Peter
View attachment 309043
Caught on the first day
Puk
View attachment 309044
Dolf2(we'll probably foster fail this one...he's the spitting image of our beloved Dolf and he's so loving and sweet)
View attachment 309036

I also received a call to help with relocating semi ferals, 4 6-month old cat and 2 12-week old boys.
Fox
View attachment 309039

Her brothers(I seperated Fox after the spay because unlike her bros she has had a bigger op). The brothers are nicely lined up from friendly to not so friendly, can you guess which one?
View attachment 309046

And Panda and Garfield
View attachment 309042

This was quite the adventure but I would do it again in a heartbeat. Like I said TNR is not very well known here and I really want to educate people and help the cats

You are my hero. Thank you for caring about these kitties. It can be lonely, disheartening and exhausting to feel as though you're alone in your mission. Just know that you have a community of people here that support you and think the world of you for doing what you're doing.