Animal Shelter Trap and Release Program Sterilizes 162 Community Cats in 2025

The Salina Animal Shelter has sterilized 162 community cats since January 2025 through its Trap, Neuter, and Release (TNR) program, according to shelter officials.

The program, which operates every third Thursday of the month, aims to humanely manage the outdoor cat population by trapping cats, spaying or neutering them, providing rabies vaccinations, and ear-tipping them before returning them to their original locations.

"This helps reduce the outdoor cat population and improve the health and welfare, as well as decrease the shelter intake in the long run, along with less litters in the community," a shelter representative explained during a recent Animal Control Advisory and Appeals Board meeting.

After a slow start in March and April when the program was being established, the shelter now consistently processes between 20 and 30 cats per month.

Community members can borrow traps from the shelter or use their own to capture cats the night before the scheduled TNR day.

The shelter follows city ordinances regarding the program, including canceling TNR days when temperatures are forecast to drop below 30 degrees overnight for the safety of the trapped cats.

Officials noted that the ear-tipping process, which removes the top half of the left ear, serves as a visual indicator that a cat has been sterilized. This helps community members identify cats that have already been through the program.

The TNR approach is considered more effective than removal, as new unaltered cats would simply move into vacated areas. By returning sterilized cats to their original locations, the program prevents reproduction while maintaining territorial boundaries.

Benefits of the program include fewer kittens being born, improved public health through rabies vaccinations, healthier and less visible cat colonies, reduced nuisance behaviors like howling and fighting, and decreased predation on wildlife.