When a rabid cat bit five people in Polk County earlier this month, one of the victims walked away with more than painful shots.She walked away with a question.I know theres a program its like TNVR, where its Trap-Neuter-Vaccin ate-Release, bite victim Christian Hines told Tampa Bay 28. I know that we dont have that here.That got us asking the same thing.Why doesnt Polk County have a Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return program, one that traps free-roaming cats, sterilizes and vaccinates them, then returns them to where they were found in an effort to reduce the population over time?The Polk County Sheriffs Office, which oversees the countys animal control operation, says it does not believe the strategy effectively reduces free-roaming cat populations.But after reviewing research from both supporters and critics, interviewing experts, and comparing policies across Central Florida, we found Polk County has taken a different path than many of its neighbors.WATCH: Polk rejects Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return, many neighboring counties don't Polk rejects Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return, many neighboring counties don'tMost neighboring counties have embraced TNVRAcross the region, Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return (TNVR) has become common.Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Orange, Osceola, Lake, Hernando, Citrus, and Sumter counties all operate some form of TNR or TNVR program.Hillsborough County says it has been doing so for about a decade. We feel that it is a duty to our community to make sure that the cats that are out in the community are as safe as possible, said Chelsea Waldeck, division director for Hillsborough Countys Pet Resource Center.The county says the program helps reduce cat populations while lowering disease risks and unnecessary euthanasia.Pasco County Animal Services Director Gary Herrero says his agency has seen similar success.He points to a once-troublesome colony in New Port Richey that he says has since been reduced to a manageable size.TNVR works, Herrero said. The studies are correct.At the end of the day, people are going to love cats, and theyre going to feed them, and theyre going to harbor the cats, and you know, do the outside feedings, so the best thing that we can do to try to control the colony overall even if it takes, you know, five to ten years to control a specific colony of cats the best thing that we can do is provide those medical services," Herrero continued. Why Polk County disagreesIn a January email to Tampa Bay 28, the Polk County Sheriffs Office pointed to several organizations and publications it says cast doubt on Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return.Among them is a 2019 Australian review published in the journalAnimals. After reviewing the available literature, the authors concluded TNVR is unlikely to solve problems associated with stray cats in most situations and argued it raises ethical and animal welfare concerns.The Sheriffs Office also cited PETA, which questions whether returning cats to the streets is humane, and the National Audubon Society, which has raised concerns about the impact free-roaming cats have on birds and other wildlife.The agency declined Tampa Bay 28s request for an interview.Our review found a more nuanced pictureAfter reviewing the research cited by Polk County, along with studies cited by its supporters, we found evidence for both sides. But many of the disagreements centered not on the concept itself, but on how it was implemented.A 2020 publication from the University of Floridas Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) reviewed studies both supporting and criticizing TNVR. It highlighted research showing some programs failed because new cats continually entered colonies or because too few cats were sterilized. It also acknowledged studies that documented long-term population declines.One modeling study cited in that review estimated between 71% and 94% of cats in a colony would need to be sterilized before populations consistently decline. A longtime UF researcher says scale is the keyDr. Julie Levy has spent decades studying free-roaming cats.The University of Florida veterinarian has authored or co-authored dozens of scientific papers on community cat management and helped establish some of Florida's best-known Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return programs.Levy says she agrees there are studies showing TNVR did not reduce cat populations. But, she argues those programs generally failed to sterilize enough cats or sustain the effort long enough to produce measurable change.She argues TNVR's success depends on scale, commitment, longevity, and persistence."Small TNR programs in Florida, where there are so many cats, really don't change population-level issues like controlling cat numbers or controlling infectious disease," Levy told Tampa Bay 28.In other words, she says simply sterilizing a handful of neighborhood cats isn't enough."If we can really streamline our operations, make them efficient, remove barriers to using them, we can get to pretty high rates of sterilization, and when you do that, you actually start to see an impact on animal control, she said.Levy points to several long-running examples in Florida. On the campus of the University of Central Florida (UCF), she says a colony that once exceeded 150 cats has dwindled to just three.A follow-up study published in 2019 documented the trend. It found UCF's volunteer-run program reduced the campus cat population by 85% over time while eliminating most colonies.She also points to Key Largo and Alachua County, where sustained programs have reported significant declines.But, Levy repeatedly stressed that those successes took years."It takes a long time, because [cats] live a long time," she said. "This is a long-term plan."For Levy, the question isn't whether every TNVR program succeeds.It's whether communities are willing to sustain programs long enough and at a large enough scale to produce measurable results.A scaled-up TNR program has been proven time and again by our program, by other researchers, that it can reduce cat populations, Dr. Levy said. Yes, it can. A newer review reached a similar conclusionA 2026 systematic review published inPreventive Veterinary Medicineexamined 91 empirical studies and 18 modeling studies to compare culling versus birth-control strategies for free-roaming dogs and cats.The researchers concluded birth-control approaches were more frequently effective than culling, while cullings effectiveness was largely limited to island settings. They also found that long-term programs with high participation rates and measures to prevent new animals from entering the colonies produced the best outcomes.So where does that leave Polk County?The debate over Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return is far from settled.TNVR critics at the Polk County Sheriffs Office argue that returning cats to the outdoors leaves them vulnerable to disease, injury, and predation, and threatens wildlife.Supporters, however, argue that sterilization and vaccination reduce reproduction, disease transmission, and shelter euthanasia over time, especially when programs are large enough and sustained long enough to make a measurable impact.For now, Polk County remains one of the regions most vocal opponents of the strategy, even as many neighboring counties continue to invest in it. ...read more read less