When goals align: targeted trap-neuter-(vaccinate)-return project helps students, shelters, cats, and communities

In 2024, Cornell University's Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program, in collaboration with the College of Veterinary Medicine and the local society for the prevention of cruelty to animals (SPCA), launched a service-learning, high-volume trap-neuter-(vaccinate)-return (TNR) initiative at the request of local neighborhood residents to address a chronic community cat crisis and provide needed surgical opportunities for veterinary students. This mixed-methods study investigated the short-term impacts of the project on student surgical experiences, shelter metrics, and community perceptions of human and feline well-being.

Through observational and prospective quantitative and qualitative methods, we analyzed changes in student surgical opportunity, shelter cat metrics, and caregiver experiences before and after the 2024 project.

During 2024, 147 cats underwent TNR and 48 participating students increased their on-site surgical volume by approximately 3 procedures. Qualitative feedback revealed gains in confidence and perception of professional readiness. Shelter data showed a moderate impact compared to other TNR studies; benefits included a significant reduction in unweaned kittens and a 3-fold reduction in euthanasia from the target community (OR, 3.89; 95% CI, 1.55 to 9.8). A small increase in intake from this neighborhood after intervention reflected better alignment between community needs (fewer) and access to shelter services (more). The largest impact of the project was in the community. Residents reported profound improvements in cat welfare, kitten births, and mortality. They also reported reduced fighting, injuries, and property damage and renewed trust in the local society for the prevention of cruelty to animals.

This mixed-methods study demonstrated that a collaborative, service-learning, large-scale TNR intervention generated meaningful benefits for the target community, the local shelter, cats, and veterinary students.

A collaborative, community-engaged, service-learning TNR model could provide sufficient surgical capacity to simultaneously expand surgical training and rapidly stabilize free-roaming cat populations in resource-limited communities.