Posted
October 16, 2016
I
know that “feral” basically means wild. It usually hints at going
wild after being in captivity, or going wild after being
domesticated.
So
I was all ready to cringe at the day being about cats-gone-wild,
about alley cats that nobody loves or cares for, possibly even about
the need to call the humane society if you spot an unknown cat in
your yard.
Basically,
I was kinda sorta afraid that the day was about the need to kill
feral cats before there is a population explosion of the wild
beasties. Almost all feral cats that are taken to animal shelters are
killed – and shelter deaths are the Number 1 cause of death for
U.S. cats.
But
animal shelters and death is not what National Feral Cat Day is about
at all! Instead, the Alley Cat Allies hold the special day in
order to spread the word about their Trap-Neuter-Return project!
The
Alley Cat Allies want you to know that feral cats live just about
everywhere in groups called colonies. They are the same species as
pet cats and, the Allies claim, they are just as healthy as pet cats.
BUT they are not adoptable, because they are not socialized to living
safely with humans.
However,
a population explosion of feral cats isn't good for anyone – not
good for people or the cats themselves. That's why they developed the
Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) system. Loads of local governments have
passed official policies endorsing TNR, and National Feral Cat Day is
an important step to raising consciousness about the TNR option and
enlisting more city and local governments to adopting this option.
This
year the theme of the day is “All Cats All Communities.”
Apparently there are quite a few different events scattered across
the U.S.
Check
out the Poster Cats of the 2016 National Feral Cat Day poster.
By
the way, other names for feral cats, in addition to alley cats,
include community cats and outdoor cats.
Also
on this date:
Sukkot
begins
World
Food Day
Plan
ahead:
Check
out my Pinterest boards for:
And here are my Pinterest boards for:
So many holidays and celebrations have had to be modified, zoomed, or postponed because of the global pandemic. But I think that cat owners can manage THIS particular celebration!
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