Feral Cats

The City of Clyde has allocated funding for Feline Neuter / Spay vouchers from the Sandusky County Humane Society to begin work on a Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) Program in the City. TNR appointments are expressly for those working on reducing the cat population in the community. TNR appointments are not for owned cats. 

All cats that are brought for a TNR appointment will be:

  • Spayed or neutered.
  • Ear tipped for easy identification in the community. 
    The ear tip lets others know this cat has been altered. Note: There will be no exceptions to the ear tip being done for TNR cats.
  • Vaccinated for Rabies.

Program Details

  • Vouchers are available to residents within City limits only.
  • Proof of residency is required by showing a valid ID or Utility bill. Vouchers are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
  • The amount of vouchers provided at one time will be limited on a case-by-case basis. 
  • 50 male vouchers and 50 female vouchers are available for the current year. 
  • Vouchers are available at the Clyde Municipal building (222 N. Main St.), 3rd-floor Administrative offices from 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Monday thru Friday (excluding holidays), and must be picked up in person.

Why Trap-Neuter-Release?
"Catch and Kill" was a widely accepted method of managing community cat colonies. The cats were trapped and removed from their established colony to be euthanized. While this method causes an instant decrease in the overall colony numbers, it is ineffective over time. Colonies subject to "catch and kill" typically increase in number back to their original size due to what is known as the vacuum effect.

TNR programs take 3-5 years to begin showing results.

What is the vacuum effect? 
Community cat colonies, like other populations of animals in the wild, have a specific population size at which they are most stable. When the population size of a colony is drastically reduced in a short amount of time, the colony reacts by trying to return to a stable size. The remaining colony members increase mating activities to create more offspring and stabilize the colony population size. A size reduction also opens the door for newcomers to the colony - other cats in the area may move in. Because of the vacuum effect, "catch and kill" has no lasting impact on the size of a community cat colony.

Once the community cats within a colony are spayed and neutered, the population will gradually decrease, and the cats will also be healthier and coexist more peacefully within a neighborhood. Female cats, prevented from having more litter, will be more beneficial. Male cats will gradually lose the urge to roam and fight and will be less prone to injury. Behaviors associated with unaltered cats, such as yowling and marking territory with urine, will disappear.