11/03/2025
There have been a lot of posts by one person about TRAP, NEUTER, RETURN (TNR) and specifically about Cat’s Cradle of the Shenandoah Valley. I wanted to correct the misinformation being spread.
The way our TNR program works is that we get a call from someone feeding cats that need to be fixed. If it is under five cats, we can help the caretaker with financial assistance to get the cats fixed and by making a clinic referral. If it is over five cats, we put the owner on our list for TNR. From there, we practice Targeted TNR. This is where we focus on one small area at a time, making sure to take care of all the cat caretakers that have called us. Cat’s Cradle did over 1,400 TNR’s in 2024. 340 were in Rockingham County, 618 in Augusta County, 271 in Waynesboro and 193 in Staunton. Just to be clear, we don’t go out and trap random cats that are not claimed by a caretaker. We trap cats we have been asked to help with and we transport them to be altered and to have a rabies vaccine. We do NOT randomly release any cats. We take the cats back to the owner’s property and return them. That’s why it’s called Trap, Neuter, RETURN.
We cover Augusta, Waynesboro, Staunton, and Rockingham currently for TNR. I will address Augusta County, Staunton and Waynesboro directly because that is what we are being slandered about. We receive no funding from the municipalities. All of our funding for TNR is from the support of generous donors that understand the need and success of a TNR program. Many times, the person that we are working with for TNR will help pay for the spay/neuter. The average cost just for surgery and rabies is $90 per cat. This does not include what it costs to have a TNR Specialist come out to the home or farm.
Our Adoption program takes in cats mostly from local shelters like SVASC. We then have foster homes that take care of these cats until they can get adopted. We do our due diligence that the cat will be welcomed into a new home that will keep their cat indoors. We do not take cats from shelters and release them into neighborhoods. It can be confusing with the wording because the Virginia Department of Agriculture references a “releasing agency” in their VDACS reporting. A “releasing agency” is simply the shelter or rescue that transfers ownership of an animal to another agency or shelter. For example, when SVACS releases adoptable cats to Cat’s Cradle for fostering and adoption. Last year Cat’s Cradle received 205 cats from SVASC and they were put into our adoption program.
The Team at Cat’s Cradle is saddened and frustrated that our community has received false information from a person who is misinformed. If you want to know more about Cat’s Cradle or our mission, please visit: catscradleva.org or to read our blog with this post, visit: https://www.catscradleva.org/blog-post/myth-buster-alert
Green Meadows Veterinary Service is dedicated to providing excellent medical and surgical care for t
