The Michiana Feral Cat Initiative is a grassroots effort to help care for the free-roaming cats in our cities and towns. Led by local people who found themselves feeding feral and stray cats, we have come together as a resource for the community to help care for these cats and to help humanely reduce the population of free-roaming cats. Millions of cats are euthanized every year in shelters in the United States, and thousands are unnecessarily put down in our own local shelters. Recognizing that our shelters are already stretched to the limit, and the community cannot offer enough homes for all these cats, the Michiana Feral Cat Initiative is working to implement a trap/neuter/return (TNR) program in our community to help ease the burden on shelters and animal control agencies. With TNR, our goal is to: 

• reduce the number of cats taken into shelters every year, thereby reducing the euthanasia rate and giving tame, adoptable cats a better chance of finding homes;
• reduce the number of births in the free-roaming cat population by spaying and neutering community cats, and returning them to their habitat; 
• help free-roaming cats live comfortable, outdoor lives by advocating humane care including food, water, winter shelter and basic veterinary care; 
• educate the community on how to care for free-roaming cats so that the cat and human populations of Michiana can live together harmoniously.