Community Cat Program

Kenton County Animal Services cares about the health and safety of pets and the community, which is why we have made strategic investments in establishing a Community Cat Program. The program is designed to directly tackle the residents’ calls for a sustainable solution to community cat overpopulation in Kenton County.

What is a Community Cat Program?

A Community Cat Program adopts the industry best practice of trap-neuter-return (TNR). This means community cats are taken in, ear-tipped, sterilized and vaccinated before being returned to their outdoor environment.

Sterilizing community cats reduces or even eliminates the behaviors that can lead to nuisance complaints.

• Neutered males are no longer compelled to maintain a large territory or fight over mates.
• Females are no longer forced to endure the physical and mental demands of giving birth and fending for their young.

Scientific studies and communities with TNR programs are proof this approach reduces and stabilizes populations of community cats and is a proven solution to community cat overpopulation. 

What is a community cat?

Community cats are defined as any free-roaming cat that may be cared for by one or more residents of the immediate area. A community cat may or may not be feral and are distinguished from other cats by being ear-tipped and sterilized.

Community cats that have been ear-tipped, sterilized, and vaccinated under the TNR program are exempt from licensing, stray and at-large provisions of the county ordinance. 

History of Community Cat Program in Kenton County

Prior to 2016, Kenton County Animal Control’s approach to community cats was the outdated model of catch and euthanize. However, research shows this practice is not only cruel and inhumane but also ineffective. It creates a vacuum, as do attempts to relocate cats, thereby allowing other cats to move in and take advantage of the newly available resources. Those cats will then breed and form their own colony. 

As a result, the Kenton County Fiscal Court launched in earnest its Community Cat Program in late-2016, after receiving a grant from the Joanie Bernard Foundation to fund the program’s first year, including spay/neuter procedures and vaccinations for community cats. Following the funding, the county was able to rely on its nonprofit partners to continue the work.

Initially, the program saw success because the external support systems existed to provide necessary medical treatment. Those external support systems, however, began to wane in late-2022.

These external partners were critical because Kenton County Animal Services currently relies on a contract veterinarian one day per week to perform all shelter animal surgeries. At the high volume, assuming all goes smoothly, 30 surgeries can be performed on that day, roughly 1,560 per year. Intake levels for 2023 are estimated to top 3,000 animals, showcasing the wide gap between demand and capacity.

What’s being done today?

In recognition of the community’s call to action, the Kenton County Fiscal Court made a substantial investment into Kenton County Animal Services’ Community Cat Program in 2023. These funds will support both pharmaceutical needs and the establishment of multiple new positions, including the county’s first-ever on-staff veterinarian. 

The Fiscal Court decided to make this investment despite facing potential hurdles in hiring a veterinarian due to national labor shortages. Mars Veterinary Health found even with the new veterinary graduates expected over the next 10 years, a shortage of up to 24,000 companion-animal veterinarians will likely still exist by 2030.

But the monumental impact this program stands to have on Kenton County’s residents and their pets makes the risk worth it. Once fully operational, Kenton County Animal Services will exponentially increase the amount of community cats served while still providing top-level care to the animals residing within the shelter. 

For more information, please visit:

Alley Cat Allies

National Animal Care & Control Association