ROCHELLE — As early as the end of February, the City of Rochelle is hoping to begin a pilot program to begin dealing with the feral cat issue within the city.
On Monday night, Jenny Thompson presented information on the TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release) program the city wants to implement to address the large number of feral cats throughout the city.
“Since being asked to research some options for feral and stray cats in our community, I’ve been working closely with a couple different organizations including TAILS in DeKalb and Spay Illinois Clinics in Lisle as well as a handful of individuals and volunteers locally in the community who are involved in these types of programs,” Thompson said. “Throughout conversations with these individuals we have put together a program called TNR – or Trap, Neuter, Return.”
Thompson explained that through the program volunteers would humanely trap cats within a specified colony – or area – on a designated day and hold them overnight. The cats would then be picked up the next morning by SpayIL for transport and taken to the facility in Lisle where they would be spayed/neutered, vaccinated for rabies, receive a flea treatment and have their ears tipped.
Cats would then be returned to Rochelle, picked up by the same volunteers to be held overnight before being released into the area they were originally found.
According to Thompson the city has budgeted $5,000 for 2020 for the pilot program.
“There is some cost involved in the program,” she said. “SpayIL charges $52 per cat and includes the spay/neuter, ear tip, flea treatment and rabies vaccination.”

There is a minimum of 12 cats needed to transport to Lisle with a maximum of 25 – if the maximum is reached for the trip, the amount to the city would be $1,300.
“Along with budgeting the $5,000 for 2020, we are pursuing some grant opportunities and we have at least one local individual, Krista Stewart, who has offered to do some fundraising through her business,” Thompson added.
Benefits of TNR
A TNR program would help minimize reproduction and overpopulation of stray and feral cats within the community as well as the spread of disease. The TNR program also reduces nuisance behaviors such as spraying and fighting among the stray and feral cats and helps to continue keeping natural rodent control in place.
“There are some challenges though,” Thompson said. “The program is costly. I’ve heard from one volunteer in Rochelle who has experience with TNR programs believes there are somewhere between 500 and 1,000 cats in Rochelle that are not claimed. So in order to go through all of these animals, it will take time and there will be a cost involved. This is definitely a long-haul kind of project.”
Thompson added that an organization in DeKalb who has been involved with a TNR program for 10 or 12 years has seen that DeKalb no longer has an issue with feral cats.
“It has taken many years for things to work out,” she said.
Thompson said the city hopes to host a TNR day in late February, utilizing local volunteers, who are familiar with different colonies within the city.
“Ideally, we would like seven to 10 volunteers to pilot the program and we have already had a handful offer to assist,” Thompson said.
Volunteers would receive training prior to participating in order to properly trap and then care for the cats prior to the spay/neuter day and upon return before releasing back into the colony.
Thompson added the city hopes to hold approximately four TNR days per year.
“With our current budget we could do approximately four transport days per year,” Thompson said. “Ideally it could be done on a monthly basis until the issue is under control, however, grant funds and community donations would be necessary to run a TNR transport day that often.”