This is what the SPCA utilises in its ‘Cat Colony Care Programme’ to identify stray cats that have been desexed through the Programme, so that we can monitor the Programme and avoid repeated unnecessary operations for already-sterilised cats. In order to distinguish the sex of the cat, male cats will have their right ear corner clipped, and female cats will have their left ear corner clipped.

In 1950s – 1960s unwell and unwanted cat were often discarded on the street or sent to the SPCA. In the early years cat owner’s poor behaviour coupled with uncontrolled reproduction on the street, and the public’s limited awareness of adoption, left the relevant government departments and the Society with no choice but to let the abandoned cats leave the world in a humane way. In an attempt to break this vicious cycle, the Society took the lead in introducing the concept of Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) to control the number of street cats in the late 1990s and aimed to improve their welfare in a more humane and sustainable way. After much research and discussion, the Society officially launched the “Cat Colony Care Programme” (CCCP) in August 2000 to attack the problem at source.

Starting with a small group of enthusiastic volunteers, they identified cat colony one by one, gradually building up a record of street cat “pawprints” throughout Hong Kong. Volunteer carers put a great deal of time and effort to gradually gain the trust of cats in a colony. When the time is right, they will start a cat-trapping operation, sometimes with support from the Society’s welfare team or experienced volunteers. As the driving force behind the CCCP, the Society undertakes the overall management and liaison works to ensure that it operates smoothly and successfully. This is in addition to providing practical support in terms of desexing, vaccinations, microchipping and basic preventative treatment against parasites. Finally, the cat’s ear is “tipped”, enabling easy identification as being desexed and part of our Programme, and most importantly helping to safeguard their future. It is not a missing corner, but a mark of happiness and health!

Anthony Leung, the Society’s Deputy Head of Inspectorate was assigned to collect abandoned cats from “cat collection boxes” back in the days. He remembers opening the boxes and saw a lot of the cats were new-born kittens also suffering from injuries or illness. In fact, 80% of the cats were injured and sick.

When the Programme first launched, it covered eight regions in Hong Kong with only 10 CCCP volunteer carers, one full-time veterinary nurse and the SPCA providing free desexing surgery.

The SPCA built the CCCP slowly but later to a level when there was a full-time vet and 2 nurses operating 5 days a week on up to 50+ cats per day. At our height, we were performing more than 6,000 surgeries per year.

Some horse trainers have been so impressed with the results that they regularly donated to the Programme. Over the past 17 years, some stables have opened their own “cat worlds”, and the feline friendly staff have become volunteer carers to help us manage their cat populations.

Dr Jane’s most favourite case in recent years was in 2018, when a street cat called “Bobby” was brought in by our inspectors with a severe neck injury. His wound was so large and infected he required three separate surgeries with special skin flaps to close. Through the dedication of his volunteer carer and a lot of hard work by the Society’s veterinary and welfare team, a month later he was able to be released back to the street.

The first step in our “Trap-Neuter-Return” programme is to trap the cat. Feral street cats when trapped usually are very frightened, and generally try to escape which may lead to injury. To avoid this stress, the SPCA devised a trap cover made of fabric designed to keep the cats both safe and calm.

Hong Kong is not the first place in the world to operate a Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programme. Back in 1950s, the United Kingdom had already started using TNR to humanely control the stray animal population. Soon after, the United States, Denmark, Canada and other countries successively adopted similar measures

If you see a street cat, please do not try to cuddle or catch it. Street cats are very wary of strangers and may feel uncomfortable and threatened if you get too close to them. Streets cats are a part of our community. We should respect them by not disturbing them.