Week 0: Introduction To My Project And Blog

Hey, I’m Matt Racz, and welcome to my senior project blog! The topic of my study is NYC’s feral cat overpopulation. My goal is to establish a number of feral cats that should be left unaltered in order to achieve population stability. Actionable steps to humanely and effectively lower the feral cat population will be included. This study will also connect the feral cat population to the dwindling bee population. I’m excited about the possible solutions that I’ll find after interviewing, reading research, doing Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR), and working on Dr. Margaret Cuonzo’s New Jersey farm. I genuinely hope that my final product of this research—a whitepaper—gives directionality to TNR, Trap-and-euthanize, and Trap, Tranquilize, Vaccinate, Alter, Release & Monitor (TTVARM) efforts. I hope to analyze the role that cat cafés, adoption centers, and animal rescue programs play in this fight to save our ecosystem, one cat at a time.

Link to my Senior Project proposal: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iwcO6ahO5fYudhy_INsG1pV5dH6B5PEdglSUT10tGYc/