Question
My male cat is an indoor cat, but one day he got out, and four days later, he showed up, having been trapped, neutered, and then released. I noticed his ear has been tipped, and he has been neutered. What can I do legally about this?
Answer
TNR (trap/neuter/return) is a common practice to help curtail the overpopulation of cats. While TNR is generally intended for feral cats, sometimes unsupervised cats roaming at large end up being trapped, neutered, and released too. Ear tipping is a common practice in TNR to indicate which cats have been spayed/neutered. This way these cats can be released without being taken to the vet again for a procedure they already had done. Perhaps consider yourself lucky that your cat was not harmed when roaming unsupervised outside, that he was neutered and you got the procedure done for free, and that your cat is not contributing to the homeless cat population.
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