- Home
- Community
- Animal Control
- Community Cats Management Program
Community Cats Management Program
Pennsauken Township has been receiving an increasing number of calls from residents about the issue of “community cats,” ownerless, feral/stray cats that are making their homes outside in Pennsauken. Shying from human contact, these cats ultimately form colonies; if left unchecked, these groups of animals grow rapidly, as a female cat can become pregnant as early as five months old. The overpopulation of community cats creates a negative impact on neighborhoods and puts a severe strain on area shelters.
Pennsauken’s municipal government has made changes to its ordinance to create public-private partnerships as part of a community cat management program, which aims to protect the public health, prevent the spread of disease among animals, reduce shelter euthanasia, and preserve scarce shelter resources.
Ordinance 2021:12 - Further regulating cats and creating a community cat/TNR management program
As part of the program, the Township partners with community cat managers: individuals, organizations, or volunteers approved by the town to trap, neuter, and return community cats to their colonies, more commonly known as TNR, a method identified as the most humane and effective way to regulate community cats and shrink their numbers. Pennsauken’s Community Cats is the first such group approved by the Township as a community cat manager.
Community cat managers in turn work with community cat caregivers: any person who, under the manager’s supervision, assists in trapping, sterilizing, vaccinating, ear-tipping, and returning the cats to the area where they were first trapped. In the case of kittens and strays/feral cats that have interacted with humans and/or can be domesticated, these animals are taken to Camden County’s no-kill intake shelter, Homeward Bound, and are vaccinated, spayed/neutered, microchipped, receive medical treatment if needed, and placed into foster care until ready for adoption.
To become a Community Cat Manager, email Amy Schmalbach in Township Administration.