This month, we wanted to highlight a first-of-its-kind study on feral cat populations.

In late 2020, the D.C. Cat Count project wrapped up its field work. Over two years, they collected over 6 million photos in the D.C. area in order to figure out how many cats live there. A final result of the 3-year project is set to come out later in 2021. This kind of work is, in our opinion, incredibly exciting and extremely important. So much about community cats – including even basic things like how many are out there – is not fully understood. The more data we get to truly understand the situation, the better we can tailor our efforts for maximum effectiveness.

It is our sincere hope to see more of this kind of scientific study; we firmly believe that the data will support what we all know in our hearts to be true: community cats are an important part of the ecosystem, and TNR works to keep their numbers in check!