Until now, Utrecht killed 400 feral cats per year, but this is about to change. According to the province, this can be done in a more animal-friendly way by catching them and keeping them in an animal center for feral cats. But why were feral cats killed?

Because feral cats have not been socialized, they hunt protected and endangered species. This has a negative impact on biodiversity and threatens the native flora and fauna. This makes it necessary to reduce the number of feral cats. In South Holland, among others, they have already managed to get it reasonably under control, using the TNRC method. This stands for Trap (catch), neuter (neuter/neuter), return/relocate (replace or return to owner) and care (provide aftercare). Utrecht has announced that it will also be using this method.

To get this going, the most important move is to catch the feral cats, this has already started through a pilot in Polsbroekerdam. This is where barn cats will be caught on farmyards in the coming months. If someone encounters a feral cat somewhere and reports it, it will also be picked up in other areas. This project lasts three years, during these years there will be a continuous record of how many cats they catch for research.

It is of course also possible that a cat is walking around that has just gone wild but belongs to someone. To return this cat to its owner, it must be chipped. For that reason, the Stray Cats Netherlands Foundation calls on their cats to be chipped. This can prevent them from starving unnecessarily, becoming ill or causing damage.