This is what Polk Commissioner Braswell put in the Four Corner Sun: he is truly an uneducated idiot when it comes to his job and the TNR program

The following was written by Bill Braswell, Polk County Commissioner and printed by Four Corner Sun. The Four Corner Sun should have checked his facts before publishing the letter to the editor. There was NO disclaimer on the page, why?

Citizens come to the BOCC with a wide range of complaints, requests, suggestions, and advice.

We listen to all but only follow through with a small percentage. The reason for this is generally people are only concerned with their specific situation and don’t factor in the impact on the entire county.

We are currently dealing with a group of pet owners who disagree with how the sheriff handles animal control. Unfortunately, sometimes these groups get caught up in the emotion of the issue and ignore the facts. We as commissioners must stay focused on facts as well as the cost of individual ideas to the 875,000 residents of Polk County.

The animal control groups’ constant theme is the BOCC “owns” the animal control facility and therefore can tell the sheriff how to run it. They also point out we manage the budget of animal control. This is true just as we own the courthouse, and we certainly don’t tell the judges how to operate. We own the facilities of property appraiser, the tax collector, the supervisor of elections, and the clerk of the court. We administer all their budgets. The system is set up this way for efficiency and these elected officials are just that, elected officials. We don’t hire and fire these people, you do.

These groups claim to know what is best for pets but ignore the facts.

Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) is their approach to managing feral cat populations, where cats are trapped, sterilized, vaccinated, and released back into their outdoor environments. However, numerous sources from scientific literature, animal welfare organizations, and expert analyses argue against its effectiveness, ethics, and broader impacts. Below, I’ve compiled the key arguments against TNR, drawing from a range of perspectives including wildlife conservation, public health, and animal welfare. These are substantiated by evidence from studies and reports, not emotions.

1. TNR fails to effectively reduce feral cat populations

•  Multiple studies indicate that TNR does not lead to significant or sustained declines in feral cat numbers. Instead, populations often stabilize or even increase due to factors like immigration of new cats into the area (the “vacuum effect”), continued abandonment of pets, and high survival rates post-sterilization. Scientific literature finds that TNR programs overwhelmingly fail to reduce populations in the long term.  Research from the University of Florida concluded that TNR did not significantly reduce cat population sizes, with some colonies actually growing. 

•  In practice, TNR requires near-total sterilization (often 75-90% of a colony) to work, which is rarely achieved due to challenges in trapping all cats, leading to ongoing reproduction and colony persistence. 

2. TNR is Inhumane to the cats themselves

•  Releasing sterilized cats back into the wild exposes them to ongoing suffering, including starvation, disease, injury from fights or vehicles, extreme weather, and predation. Feral cats in TNR programs often live short, harsh, cruel lives with high mortality rates. This approach prioritizes colony management over individual cat welfare.  

•  TNR disregards cat’s quality of life by condemning them to outdoor existence without adequate protection, especially in areas with hazards like traffic or poisons. 

3. Negative impacts on wildlife and ecosystems

•  Feral cats are invasive predators that kill billions of birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians annually, contributing to biodiversity loss, TNR perpetuates this by maintaining cat colonies in the environment, allowing ongoing predation even if reproduction is curbed.  

•  Critics from conservation groups argue that TNR prioritizes cats over ecosystems, disregarding the broader environmental harm. This is seen as a disregard for the “greater ecosystem,” where cats’ predatory behavior disrupts food chains and habitats. 

4. Public health and community risks

•  TNR-maintained colonies can pose health risks to humans and other animals through the spread of diseases like toxoplasmosis, a disease fatal to manatees, rabies, and flea-borne illnesses

•  Outdoor cats can create nuisances in communities, such as property damage, noise from fighting, or allergen issues. TNR is criticized for negatively impacting people by sustaining these problems rather than resolving them.  In some cases, it encourages irresponsible pet ownership by providing a “safety net” for abandoned cats. 

5. Encourages pet abandonment and resource misallocation

•  By framing outdoor colonies as manageable, TNR may inadvertently promote the dumping of unwanted pets, as people assume the cats will be “taken care of” through community programs. This worsens overpopulation rather than preventing it. 

•  Resources spent on TNR (trapping, surgeries, monitoring) can be better allocated to alternatives like adoption or euthanasia for unadoptable cats. TNR is inefficient and unethical when data shows it doesn’t solve the underlying issues.  

6. Lack of long-term success and ethical alternatives

•  Overall, TNR is seen as an unethical compromise that fails on animal welfare grounds, as the weight of data suggests it’s unlikely to resolve stray cat problems.  In dog populations, similar strategies have been proven ineffective, suggesting TNR’s limitations extend beyond cats. 

Feral cats rarely die from old age. Allowing them to continue their daily struggle in a hostile environment is not a humane option.

These arguments represent a consensus from conservationists, animal rights groups like PETA, as well as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, Centers for Disease Control, the National Park Service, American Veterinary Medical Association, and many others. There is a reason they oppose TNR. The debate hinges on balancing cat welfare with environmental and public concerns.

TNR gives emotional satisfaction to some, but does nothing to solve the problem.

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