At my request, I received the figures below from Stichting Zwerfkat Nederland regarding the number of cats that have been helped (neutered), with the aim of keeping the population of feral cats under control. These figures have also been published in the annual reports of Stichting Zwerfkat Nederland.
Number of cats treated with TNRC* by Stichting Zwerfkat Nederland:
- 2018: 54
- 2019: 278
- 2020: 616
- 2021: 789
- 2022: 975
- 2023: 1,381
- 2024: 2,029
- 2025: 2,030
- Total: 8,152
*TNRC stands for Trap-Neuter-Return-Care. In plain English, this means:
- Trap = catching
- Neuter = neutering/spaying
- Return = returning
- Care = aftercare/monitoring/care
It is a method in which stray or feral cats are caught, neutered or spayed, and then usually returned to the place they came from. The aim is to reduce reproduction and thereby limit the stray cat population over time.
I gave the following response to these figures to Stichting Zwerfkat Nederland:
“It confirms that catching and ‘helping’ 2,000 cats is less than a drop in the ocean, knowing that:
- 40,000–50,000 stray cats are added every year;
- there are globally one million feral cats and these cats reproduce continuously;
- millions of domestic cats roam freely, illegally, while cat owners evade their legal and moral responsibility.
It confirms that there is no scientific basis whatsoever showing that TNRC is a solution to the problem of free-roaming cats. I never received an answer to my question asking for scientific substantiation that TNRC would be effective, and no scientific substantiation can be found on the website.
Stichting Zwerfkatten Nederland is one of the reasons why the problem only continues to grow, because it does not clearly communicate to the public that, based on existing laws and regulations and hundreds of references, it is prohibited to:
- allow your cat to roam freely.
- allow your cat to be killed by traffic.
- allow your cat to kill and/or disturb protected animals/birds.
- allow your cat to defecate in the neighbours' garden, spread serious zoonoses, and cause permanent nuisance.
My conclusion is that Stichting Zwerfkatten Nederland:
- does not stand up for the interests, rights, welfare, and health of cats.
- does not stand up for the interests, rights, welfare, and health of protected animals/birds in nature.
- disregards the serious problem of the spread of zoonoses to humans and the spread of a contagious disease that causes mortality among animals/birds in nature.
- disregards the nuisance experienced by millions of people due to free-roaming cats.”
Do you agree with my views?
Then sign the petition ‘Stop Free-Roaming Cats’.
