AlleyCat.org is your one-stop shop for everything you need to know about TNR, from in-depth information to success stories to expert guidance. Learn why TNR is a responsible and compassionate approach to cat care, and how it can help control cat populations, reduce cat suffering, and create healthier communities.

1. Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) is not
abandonment and local laws must
reflect it

2.  Quick facts:
• Alley Cat Allies supports the enforcement of laws that punish true abandonment, but these
laws do not apply whatsoever to Trap-Neuter-Return.
• Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) is not cat abandonment. When community cats are returned, they
are going back to the outdoor homes where they have been living and thriving. TNR improves
community cats’ lives and is in their best interest.
• However, in too many jurisdictions, community cat caregivers and TNR advocates face legal
consequences for their TNR efforts because of punitive and outdated abandonment laws that
do not account for community cats who live in the outdoors.
• A specific law is not necessary to practice TNR. Most communities with active and successful
TNR programs do not have one on the books. However, existing, outdated ordinances should
be updated to remove barriers to TNR.
• The American Bar Association (ABA), the largest association of legal professionals in the
United States, adopted a resolution urging …”legislative bodies and governmental agencies
to interpret existing laws and policies, and adopt laws and policies, to allow the
implementation and administration of trap-neuter-vaccinate-return programs for community
cats…”

3. • To protect TNR programs and those who carry them out, animal laws must be reviewed and
the term “abandonment” redefined to exempt TNR and the work of community cat caregivers.
 All around the world, communities are increasingly embracing Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR)
programs sometimes known as Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return (TNVR), Shelter-Neuter-
Return (SNR), and Return To Field (RTF) programs as the humane and effective approach to
community cats, also called feral cats. They do so in recognition that top animal experts and
peer-reviewed studies confirm that TNR stabilizes community cat populations through a
process of spay and neuter, vaccination, and return to the outdoor homes in which they were
found.
 The most successful TNR programs evolve naturally from grassroots advocacy. Grassroots
activists take action to fill a void in much-needed spay and neuter services for cats who live
outdoors. Their local shelter and animal control agency then acknowledge the positive impact
and waive typical requirements such as a shelter hold period accordingly for community cats.
And finally, the local government, often prompted by advocates, ensures these TNR
programs do not face legal roadblocks by updating the animal code to exempt community
cats from policies created for indoor cats who are reliant on humans.

4.  That final change is one of the most critical. Community cats are not pet cats. They have
no owners, they thrive outdoors as part of our neighborhoods, and require a different kind of
care . And though most model animal ordinances do not include a specific TNR law, they do
clarify the distinction between community cats and owned cats. They specify that community
cat caregivers are not owners, and as such are not in violation of leash laws, pet limits, at-
large provisions…or abandonment laws.
 Successful ordinances acknowledge that the completion of TNR is not abandonment, but a
homecoming.
 In this resource, we walk you through the definition of abandonment, why TNR does not fit
that definition, the recommendations of top legal experts in drafting animal laws, and how
following those recommendations is vital to prevent TNR programs and those who carry them
out from being wrongfully penalized.

5.  What is cat abandonment?
 While the legal definition of “abandonment” varies, it generally refers to when an owner (or
person responsible for an animal) intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or with criminal
negligence leaving an animal behind, or permitting an animal to be left behind, without
providing for the animal’s proper care or making reasonable arrangements for custody with
another person.
 Abandoning a cat is considered animal cruelty in 49 states and the District of Columbia and
is mentioned in almost all states’ animal cruelty laws. Some of these laws include
abandonment in their definition of “cruelty,” some include it in a list of cruel acts, and some
deem abandonment as its own offense.
 Alley Cat Allies supports the enforcement of laws that punish true abandonment, but these
laws do not apply whatsoever to TNR.

6.  Why TNR is not abandonment
 If abandonment is defined by an owner intentionally and recklessly putting a cat in harm’s
way by placing her in an unfamiliar environment without the resources she is accustomed to,
then TNR is the exact opposite.
 First, consider that the people caring for community cats are not their owners. Community
cats were there before a caregiver began to feed them and would continue to be there should
the caregiver decide to stop. They have no owner, and their caregivers are simply good
Samaritans.
 Next, note the fundamental difference between community cats and pet cats. Unlike cats who
live indoors and rely on people for their care, community cats have the skills to care for
themselves in the outdoors. They bond to their specific territories and feline families. They
know where to find food, where to hide, and how to stay safe.
 Understand what the “Return” in TNR really means. Cats are brought back to the exact
outdoor homes in which they are trapped the territories they know well and in which they
have the resources to thrive. TNR is not relocation, which introduces cats to unfamiliar
surroundings. TNR also does not put cats accustomed to indoor homes into the outdoors.

7.  On the matter of intent, those who carry out TNR do so because it improves, rather than
threatens, the health and wellbeing of community cats. Vaccinations, which are usually given
during TNR (AKA TNVR), protect cats against disease. Spay and neuter reduces the
stresses of mating and pregnancy in cats, and is scientifically proven to prevent certain feline
infections and cancers.
 To top it all off, community cats who are spayed or neutered through a TNR program often
gain caregivers they may not have had before. As such, they are provided with regular food
and water and cozy shelters.
 No part of the process represents anything approaching abandonment.
 “These animals have been thriving and surviving in the same area, so we are not abandoning
them by returning them [through TNR] and we have not had any complaints regarding
abandonment. This program is our biggest and most lifesaving that we’ve ever put in place,”
says Rene Vasquez, director of Fort Bend Animal Services in Fort Bend, Texas. In 2018, Fort
Bend amended its animal ordinance to support and protect TNR, including exempting
community cats from laws like leash requirements.

8.  Top legal experts agree that abandonment laws should exempt TNR
 Today, despite the incredible track record of TNR, too may animal control agencies still
wrongfully interpret the return of community cats through a TNR program as abandonment. In
most of these communities, officers have legal grounds to impound those cats and penalize
their caregivers. Local laws have not yet been amended to prevent it.
 Keep in mind that in these same communities, grassroots TNR efforts are underway right
now. Should an activist be in the wrong place at the wrong time one day, they could face a
heavy fine just for bringing a cat back to her outdoor home. That is not conducive to the
growth of nonlethal programs, or the wellbeing of a community’s citizens.
 The American Bar Association (ABA), the largest association of legal professionals in the
United States, recognizes the lifesaving benefits of TNR and the dangers animal laws pose to
TNR community cat programs and advocates if they remain stuck in the past. In 2017, the
ABA adopted Resolution 102B urging…
 “state, local, territorial, and tribal legislative bodies and governmental agencies to interpret
existing laws and policies, and adopt laws and policies, to allow the implementation and
administration of trap-neuter-vaccinate-return programs for community cats within their
jurisdictions so as to promote their effective, efficient, and humane management.”

9.  This resolution implicitly calls upon governments to redefine “abandonment” in their animal
code in order to explicitly exempt community cats as part of a TNR program..
 What you can do
 As you’ve read so far, TNR protects and improves the lives of cats and reflects the humane
values of communities. As sound public policy, it benefits the cats, the people who care for
them, and the neighborhoods in which they live. It allows community cats to stay in their
outdoor homes where they belong.
 However, too many jurisdictions have animal laws that lack express language exempting
TNR and the work of community cat caregivers from the definition of abandonment. As a
result, many caregivers have faced, or are facing, legal consequences for their compassion.
Efforts to improve cats’ lives and benefit the community are hindered by enforcement of these
punitive laws. Or, alternatively, abandonment laws are simply not enforced at all because
their scope is too wide.
 To further advance lifesaving change, we cannot let animal laws that are decades out of date
stay on the books.

10.  We must urge our local government leaders to open up a discussion on the animal
ordinances as they stand and update them so they no longer create barriers to nonlethal
approaches. Look into your community’s law governing animal abandonment. If
abandonment is not explicitly defined to exclude community cats in a TNR program, speak
up and ask for change. We’ll help you get started at alleycat.org/AdvocacyToolkit.
 Contact your legislators and ask that they follow the ABA’s advice. Resolution 102B is a
powerful endorsement of TNR and its place in our communities.
 For examples of ideal ordinance language, ask them to look to three states that have
explicitly exempted cats who have been part of a Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program from
abandonment definitions: Maine, Nevada, and Utah.
 To ensure TNR is not considered abandonment, Alley Cat Allies recommends that all animal
ordinances include the following language:
 A person who returns a community cat to its original location while conducting Trap-Neuter-
Return is not deemed to have abandoned the cat.

11.  TNR is not abandonment. The voice of the people your voice is key to ensuring TNR and
those who carry it out are not at risk from laws that are meant to punish animal cruelty
offenders.
 More Information:
• Cats and the law
• Finding and understanding your local laws
• Trap-Neuter-Return
• Why Trap-Neuter-Return community cats? The case for TNR
• Research: Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) is not abandonment