The statistics

• Every day in the United States, thousands upon thousands of puppies and kittens are born because of the uncontrolled breeding of pets. Add to that number, the offspring of stray and abandoned companion animals, and the total is even more staggering.
• Every year, between six and eight million dogs and cats enter U.S. shelters and some three to four million of these animals are euthanized.
• Less than 10% of companion animals in the US are adopted from shelters or rescue groups.
• Female cats can have an average of three litters a year and can get pregnant as early as five months old!
• One unsprayed female and her offspring can potentially give birth to thousands of kittens during her lifetime.
• 30% of lost dogs and only 2-5% of lost cats are reclaimed by their guardians.
• Last year, Tree House spayed and neutered nearly 900 cats (most of them for free or low-cost) potentially saving the lives of tens of thousands of homeless kittens.

The Importance of Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR)

At Tree House, we believe that Trap-Neuter-Return is the only effective and humane way to manage feral cat populations and is the key to drastically reducing the number of homeless cats and kittens being euthanized daily in shelters all over the country. Cats are humanely trapped, taken to a clinic to be sterilized, vaccinated and evaluated. Kittens and friendly stray cats are placed into loving homes. Healthy adult feral cats are returned to their outdoor home where they are cared for by volunteers. In communities that don’t practice TNR, more than 30 years of killing cats has done nothing to reduce feral cat populations. Feral cats did not just appear in our alleys, backyards and barns overnight. They are the offspring of once domesticated cats who have reverted to a wild state in order to survive and they are prolific breeders. More than 70% of all cats brought into our nation’s animal pounds or shelters are killed and more than half of them are feral cats. We believe that feral cats have the right to live dignified lives without having to give birth to litter after litter of homeless kittens. More managed feral cat colonies of cats means fewer kittens. Every cat that is TNR’d brings us closer to being a no-kill nation.