Meet Jennifer Hall

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jennifer Hall a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jennifer, thank you so much for joining us and offering your lessons and wisdom for our readers. One of the things we most admire about you is your generosity and so we’d love if you could talk to us about where you think your generosity comes from.

From my earliest memories, I have always loved cats. Growing up in rural Illinois in the 1990’s, my family had our share of “drop off” cats and dogs. We never turned away a stray, always feeding them and trying to provide the best care we could at the time. Despite low cost spay and neuter not existing in our rural area, my parents still did their best to get each stray spayed or neutered so we wouldn’t be overwhelmed with kittens and puppies. I truly believe experiencing that compassion and generosity as a child helped to mold me into what I am today – a Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) advocate.

I would not consider myself wealthy by any means; I have debt just like most people. So, while I couldn’t provide the finances to pay for TNR surgeries, I could donate my time and experience to spearhead a TNR program for my county – Cumberland County, Tennessee. A mentality with willingness to learn, think outside the box and actively seek continuing education opportunities is all it takes to conduct TNR on your own.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I moved to Cumberland County, Tennessee in the spring of 2015. I immediately noticed the large free roaming cat population everywhere I went: stores, empty lots, houses, everywhere! Being allergic to cats (and dogs) made it to where I couldn’t volunteer at an animal shelter. I learned about Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) and realized that is how I can help. No touching of the cats means my allergies were completely manageable. I worked with multiple animal rescue non-profit organizations and individuals between 2015 – 2024, growing my knowledge, skills and networking with the community.

I quickly learned that no matter how much TNR or spay/neuter is done, nothing will ever change if laws are not updated to reflect the change in community cat management. I decided in April of 2024 to venture out on my own to focus solely on TNR and introducing TNR to the community through community relations and education. So many people in my county still have no idea that TNR services exist, yet alone in their own community. So, I grabbed some friends and we signed Cat Trap Fever into existence in May of 2024. I was incredibly excited to have a social media manager, and a foster program coordinator join shortly after the bylaws were signed. Cat Trap Fever is growing, and I couldn’t be more excited about sharing my love for these community cats with new volunteers, donors and supporters.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Personally, the most important quality that has aided me on my TNR journey is the willingness to learn. Each situation is different and if you aren’t willing to learn and adapt, you can become overwhelmed with frustration.

Patience is another important quality when conducting TNR. Patience for the cats to be trapped and patience for difficult cat caregivers that make your job harder. Effective, long lasting change for TNR takes times. Not days, not months but years.

Learning how to set and keep boundaries will help to protect your mental well-being and prevent compassion fatigue. There will always be “1 more cat. Just 1 more cat.”. Working beyond your personal or organization’s capacity can lead to burnout. You can’t help cats if you aren’t taking care of yourself, first.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

Educating the public about community cats is going to be my biggest challenge. Change starts with the younger generation so trying to get into schools to present TNR information to children in a way they can understand is very daunting to me.

Overcoming the education gap does not relate to just children. Adults working in related animal welfare fields often “keep the status quo”, meaning keep doing it the way we have been for years even if it isn’t working. I hope to attend as many public events, fundraisers and craft fairs to help promote TNR as a better way to manage community cats.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cattrapfeveroftn.org
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/cattrapfeveroftn
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/cattrapfeveroftn