Some cats that were previously owned revert to feral behavior, but may be resocialized with loving confinement. Such cats may meow at you if they are hungry or frightened. Feral cats breed frequently, adding to an already overwhelming pet overpopulation problem. Without intervention, their lives are filled with danger, disease, hunger, fear, temperature extremes, and usually end in a slow, painful death. Humane population control of feral cats is a crucial step in preventing suffering and proliferation.
Many people erroneously believe that cats can fend for themselves.
Cat owners often abandon their cats when they move or simply no longer want the responsibility of pet ownership. Such cats survive only if they find food, shelter, and avoid dangers such as injury from cars, dogs, other cats, or abusive humans. They are rarely spayed or neutered, and their offspring are raised without human contact. Within a few years, one or two cats can produce a colony of twenty or more. The fate of the cats must be determineined before a trapping program begins.