Most everyone agrees on the problem: There are way too many stray cats in Lancaster County.

The Humane League of Lancaster County estimates there are about 84,000 feral cats here. Many are furtive felines that people never even see.

These are the cats that scream in the night, spray shrubbery, bury poop in gardens and kill birds, small rabbits and other animals by the tens of millions nationwide each year.

Forced to scrounge for themselves, they often live brief lives of constant hunger and infections.

The dumping of unwanted house cats only exacerbates the problem.

MORE: Felines' friends care for strays

Most everyone agrees that the number of feral cats is a problem in Lancaster city and across the county. Solving that problem, however, has become a thorny issue here.

Until several years ago, feral cats taken to the county Humane League were euthanized at a rate of about 1,500 to 2,000 a year.

The shelter hated doing it, and it took a toll on its staff. But feral cats' wild nature ruled out adoption as an option. Killing them was considered the most humane option.

On farms, when a barn cat population got too large, kittens were, well, taken care of.

Former state Sen. Noah Wenger got a state law changed that exempted farm cats from having to have rabies shots.

But the feral cat population continued to grow.

Now, at the Humane League and among local cat rescue groups, a new approach known as trap-neuter-return, or TNR, has taken hold.

Colonies of feral cats are trapped, spayed or neutered en masse at clinics run by local vets who often charge reduced fees.

The cats also are given a rabies vaccination and their left ears are tipped for identification purposes. They then are released into the wild at the same spot where they were captured.

People who live near the colonies, known as caretakers, or volunteers from local animal-rescue groups promise to feed the cats and make sure they have shelter in inclement weather.

The idea is that healthy, fed cats will be less of a nuisance and live contented lives on their own. Males no longer will inflict wounds on each other as they fight for females. If fighting is eliminated, it is hoped the cats won't spread diseases to each other.

Without reproduction, the hope is that the colony eventually will die out.

The local Humane League made the monumental shift from euthanasia for feral cats to TNR in 2008.

An estimated 2,500 to 3,000 cats are now treated and returned to the wild each year at clinics sponsored by the Humane League or local cat rescue groups.

Currently, with an $80,000 grant from PetSmart Charities, the Humane League is entering the second year of a two-year effort that has a goal of capturing about half of the city's estimated 5,000 feral cats and maintaining them under TNR. Captured feral cats in the city get TNR treatment for free.

Even before 2008, several volunteer-run groups had begun TNR, sweeping up colonies in the city and rural areas, where cat dumpings often created ragtag clusters.

There are now hundreds of TNR colonies, ranging in size from a few to more than 40 cats, in the city and around the county.

Proponents are satisfied that the approach is making a dent in the feral cat problem while being the most humane solution for cats.

"It's truly the best solution," said Linda Gibson, a Strasburg woman whose organization, Helping Hands for Animals, has since 1993 treated a couple hundred feral cat colonies around the county.

Joan Brown, president of the county Humane League, said humans created the problem in the first place.

"Feral cats are here because they are domesticated animals. It's a human-created problem and, therefore, I feel it's incumbent upon us to find a humane solution.

"And, ultimately, the humane solution is to fix every feral cat out there and stop having irresponsible pet owners who dump cats."

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But not everyone agrees, and some vociferously disagree. Some question whether TNR is even legal, saying the placement of feral cats in the wild is against state law.

TNR has created confusion in some municipalities. It's even pitted animal-rescue groups against each other and led to such strange bedfellows as the Pennsylvania Game Commission and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Connie Kondravy, a retired English teacher who lives in the city, and her husband, John, founded the Organization for Responsible Care of Animals in the city in 1983.

ORCA last year rescued 2,640 orphaned, injured or lost animals. Connie Kondravy used to volunteer for the Humane League of Lancaster County. Her husband is a former board member and vice president.

Both are vocal opponents of TNR.

Connie Kondravy's primary concern is that feral cats carry too high a risk of getting rabies, raising the possibility of a rabid cat scratching an unsuspecting child.

"It's my biggest concern because we're not going to bring that child back," she said during an interview in the ORCA office, with three cats milling around.

"I've been in animal welfare work for 35 years, but I still put people first over this outrageous situation of animal overpopulation.

"Sure, I'd like to save everything, but there aren't ever enough good homes for these animals. So euthanasia is a realistic situation in our business."

She also maintains that TNR is breaking a state law that forbids abandoning an animal in the wild.

"If they're running a colony, it's illegal," she said.

That stance places ORCA at odds with other local animal-rescue groups. An incident several weeks ago illustrated that schism.

A ranger at Lancaster County Central Park found a cat under a car at the park. When the Humane League was called and learned that the cat had its left ear tipped, the ranger was told to let the cat go because it was a member of a TNR colony.

ORCA, on the other hand, retrieved the cat and will keep it. Kondravy agreed with the officer, who she said was not about to abandon a cat when he could cite someone else for doing the same thing.

Yes, she said, she is aware no person has died from rabies in Pennsylvania since a 12-year-old Lycoming boy succumbed in 1984. And she readily admits some local doctors have told her her fears are overblown.

But she points to several local cases of feral cats being diagnosed with rabies, including one in Musser Park in the city four years ago and another in East Hempfield Township eight or nine years ago.

While TNR cats get an initial rabies vaccination when they are captured, Kondravy said the cats do not get the follow-up booster the next year because once they are caught, it's almost impossible to recapture feral cats.

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Perhaps the biggest complaint against TNR is that it does not stem feral cats' nasty habit of killing birds and small mammals.

The American Bird Conservancy places the annual nationwide death toll of birds killed by the estimated 150 million feral cats and pet cats allowed to run free at 500 million a year.

For that reason, TNR is opposed by many birding, wildlife management and wildlife rehabilitation groups.

In January 2010, the New Jersey Fish and Game Council passed a resolution opposing TNR. It said that feral and free-ranging domestic cats kill millions of native birds, small mammals, reptiles and amphibians, and that "even well-fed cats still kill native wildlife."

Leon Schreffler, a member of the Lancaster County Bird Club, complains that TNR cats "still roam free to kill chipmunks, snakes, birds, baby rabbits, etc. Did you ever hear the scream of a baby rabbit that has been caught by a cat?"

Leah Stallings, a state-licensed wildlife rehabilitator with AARK Wildlife and Rehabilitation Center in Newtown, Bucks County, said, "You wouldn't believe how many animals I get in here from cat attacks. A lot of my orphans come in being a cat's mouse. Cats shred to play, not eat.

"I can't tell you the solution. I don't like euthanasia, but I don't like to see an animal suffer and I don't see the TNR cats (as) all that healthy and living a vibrant life."

There is considerable debate about whether well-fed cats continue to stalk birds and wildlife, and whether spayed or neutered cats wander less.

Both sides of the TNR issue cite scientific studies they say prove their contentions.

Responding to the complaint about the destruction of wildlife, Brown said, "We are not seeking to create the perfect wildlife balance. That is a reality in wildlife."

Gibson contends that habitat loss is the main impediment to thriving bird populations.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an animal-rights organization, opposes TNR.

"We believe that, although altering feral cats prevents the suffering of future generations, it does little to improve the quality of life for the cats who are left outdoors and that allowing feral cats to continue their daily struggle for survival in a hostile environment is not usually a humane option," the group says on its website.

In 2003, concerned about the toll on native animals, the Pennsylvania Game Commission took specific aim at TNR and proposed making such programs unlawful and subject to up to $100 fines.

But after a hailstorm of opposition from a coalition of animal-welfare groups, the agency backed down. Still, spokesman Jerry Feaser said at the time, TNR was banned under existing game laws.

However, the agency apparently has since distanced itself from the TNR issue.

Contacted recently, Feaser said in an e-mail, "The Game Commission has no regulatory authority for domestic cats — in-house or feral." He did note that it is illegal to release domestic cats on state game lands.

In Manheim Township, TNR is not allowed and police can prosecute anyone feeding a colony if the cats leave the property, according to police Lt. Robert Baldwin.

A caretaker feeding a colony takes ownership of those cats and is responsible if they wander onto others' properties, he said.

No TNR caretaker has been cited, but several people have been warned to stop feeding cat colonies, Baldwin said.

"They shouldn't be doing it," he said.

Mayor Rick Gray has embraced TNR in the city, allowing a fire station to be used as a holding facility for trapped cats and allowing TNR requests for colony locations to be distributed to residents in water and sewer bills.

That mailing of fliers resulted in 500 calls to Lancaster County Cat Rescue, a TNR group.

"From everything I've heard, this is the way to approach it," Gray said. "At this stage, we support the efforts to control cats. We recognize there might be other positions."

TNR groups, however, have not been allowed free rein in the city.

Karen Dinkle, the city's animal enforcement officer, said she will — and has — prosecuted TNR caretakers.

TNR is accepted unless neighbors complain about cats on the loose. If there are complaints, the caretaker is told to stop feeding.

In two recent cases, one involving a colony of 30 cats, Dinkle said caretakers paid fines and vowed to continue feeding the cats.

"It's a careful balance of supporting those people who are feeders and colony supporters and making sure the colonies aren't a nuisance," Brown admits.

Killing stray cats is not a viable option and could lead to prosecution under state animal cruelty laws, according to Craig Stedman, Lancaster County's district attorney.

He said there have been several prosecutions in the county involving intentional poisoning of feral cats.

Undeterred by detractors, local volunteers who promote TNR remain convinced it's the most humane approach to a perennial problem.

"People would be amazed. There are so many situations where people will say, 'Can you come and remove these cats?' They don't want to see them suffer. They don't want to see them hungry," said Pat Burns, a city woman who founded Lancaster County Cat Rescue last year and works 55 hours a week on TNR efforts.

"They're like children to most of these people. It's going to be awhile before we really get it under control but I believe we are having an effect."

Added the Humane League's Brown, "Certainly, this is the way to go long-term to control the feral population. The scientific research has very clearly demonstrated that if you simply remove feral cats from their environment and euthanize them, which used to be standard practice, it simply leaves a gap where more feral cats will come in and kind of go into overdrive and overpopulate.

"Whereas, if you neuter feral cats, they remain in their colonies, they keep the population stable and over time it begins to decline.

"They are not engaging in the more unpleasant behaviors, which is fighting, overmating, screaming at night, marking territory — the things that annoy people.

"So they are better community inhabitants, if you will. Research also shows that cats are perfectly happy living in their feral environment. They do tend to live relatively healthy and happy lives."

acrable@lnpnews