Too Many Kitties? Triple R Offers Free TNR Workshop Saturday At Green Hills Library

PALOS HILLS, IL — If you’ve noticed an abundance of outside cats in your neighborhood, learn how you can help them and reduce the pet overpopulation crisis in our shelters, Saturday, Nov. 22, at Triple R Pet’s last TNR workshop of the year.

The FREE workshop runs from 10:30 a.m. to noon at Green Hills Public Library, 10331 Interlochen Drive, Palos Hills.

Experts from Triple R will lead a hand-on workshop on TNR – or “trap, neuter, release” – when cats are spayed or neutered, then released back into their colony. Participants will learn how to train cats to go into traps, set and manage traps, and safely transport cats to low-cost neuter clinics and recover cats after surgery.

“Shelters are in such crisis and the cat overpopulation is so bad; we’re going to keep going with TNR,” said Collette Walker, board member and volunteer program director for Triple R. “There’s such a backlog, many are no longer taking owner surrenders. People feel they don’t have any options they dump their pets, and they’re not fixed.”

According to National Kitten Coalition, 2.8 million felines entered rescues and shelters in 2024, with kittens (five months or younger) accounting for 57 percent of feline intakes. Of those, 273,000 cats were euthanized, with kittens comprising 60 percent of death by euthanasia..

Volunteers will also show participants how to assemble a simple outdoor shelter where feral cats can take refuge from the harsh winter elements.

“It’s a good program. We do not go out ourselves because we don’t have enough volunteers, but we train the public to do TNR themselves,” Walker said. “Usually we get contacted by a caretaker who is feeding ferals.”

Community and feral cats offer several benefits, including possible decreasing isolations and offering a sense of purpose for the people who care for them. They also help control rodent populations, which stabilizing the cat population and providing a sense of community.

Walker said a new crop of kittens will be on the ground at the beginning of the infamous “kitten season” in March, which lasts through the fall.

The only way we can control the feral cat overpopulation is to spay and neuter clinics,” Walker added. “We’ll never be able to adopt our way out of it.”