Unfortunately cats have become a throw-away animal in Michigan.  What else could explain the actions of people that erroneously believe they can move and abandon their cat because….”after all they can take care of themselves.”  Or that it is O.K. to have their intact cat roam the neighborhood.

The Michigan Pet Fund Alliance prioritizes “no-kill” for domestic healthy and treatable animals however, a truly “no-kill” state includes programs to stop the killing of feral cats.  The Michigan Pet Fund supports Trap/Neuter/Return of feral cats and targeted efforts to insure that feral colonies diminish and disappear naturally.

Feral Cats are truly wild animals and since small wild cats are not indigenous to Michigan they are the result of domestic cats being abandoned or allowed to roam outdoors that have created populations that over-time have become wild.

A common mistake made by well meaning people when they find a litter of kittens outdoors without a mother is that the mother has abandoned them so they take them and try to find homes through a rescue or shelter.  Unfortunately often the mother for the kittens is just off looking for food.  Feral kittens should be left in the wild.   The colony including the kittens need to be spayed/neutered.  If you want to "save" the kittens - trap them and have them spayed/neutered and return them to their colony and be a caregiver.  If kittens are found that are not feral or they are abandon by their mother – young kittens cannot survive outside alone and should be taken to a rescue or shelter.