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Dr. Brad Crauer, left, and Victoria Partridge stand in the Kansas State Mobile Surgery Unit Tuesday as the Street Cats Club celebrates its 100th TNR.
The mobile surgery unit allows K-State veterinarian students perform necessary operations within the communities they help.
A sedated kitty receives an arm tag to ensure it is returned to the colony it was collected from.
The surgery area is shaved and cleaned prior to the operation.
A kitty recovers from its procedure inside the mobile surgery unit.
The Street Cats Club is celebrating an accomplishment early this year, after reaching its 100th TNR of the year in under two months.
TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return) is the humane process of capturing animals, sedating them, performing a sterilization procedure, administering a rabies vaccination and tipping the cat’s ear to indicate it has already been spayed or neutered. Cats are then observed overnight, fed and returned back to the colonies they were taken from.
“It is the absolute most effective way to control and reduce the growth of the stray cat population,” Street Cats Club founder Victoria Partridge said. “Whenever you have stray cat populations that are out of control, you see a lot more sick, injured, orphaned cats. Cats that are dying really horrible ways out on the streets because there are not enough resources for them to be taken care of.”
The TNR process also helps reduce the spread of diseases passed through fighting and mating. It’s also 100% free.
This year, the Street Cats Club was able to increase its average TNRs from 20-30 to around 50 cats per month. Last year, the Street Cats Club didn’t hit its 100th TNR until June. Partridge attributes that success to the organization’s recent partnership with the Kansas State University Mobile Surgery Unit.
After their partnership began in 2022, SCC and the K-State Mobile Surgery Unit were able to complete 202 TNRs total last year. In 2023, they are already halfway there.
“At this rate, we are probably going to hit 500 or 600 for the year,” Partridge said. “... 2022 was our first year to establish the partnership and we are really excited and grateful that they wanted to renew that partnership. It is because of them that we’re able to really do such significantly high numbers of TNRs in this community.”
Dr. Brad Crauer, head of Shelter Medicine at the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine, said the Emporia Animal Shelter was one of the first partners the Kansas State University Mobile Surgery Unit had when the partnership began eight years ago.
“We have had over 900 students come through our program here and we have done over 36,000 surgeries,” Crauer said. “TNR is a big part of what we do because it directly decreases cat intake and cat euthanasia at shelters. When there’s a TNR program in a community, there are less cats that come into those shelters and less cats getting euthanized and those are both really good things so we super support TNR and love our partnership with Street Cats.”
Those interested in supporting Street Cats Club in their mission can donate on their website or through the Emporia Community Foundation. Until Feb. 25, you can also participate in the SCC’s 50/50 for the Kitties fundraiser by purchasing a $10 ticket to enter into a jackpot drawing to win half of the total funds raised.
SCC is also always in need of volunteers and fosters. You can contact the Street Cats Club through social media or through its website, streetcatsclub.org.
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(1) comment
Congratulations to Victoria and all the other members of SCC. Dr. Crower and Dr. Dressler at K-State have really committed to helping the community promote spay/neuter of both cats and dogs.
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