(U-WIRE) DAVIS, Calif. – Protection of animal rights, prevention of disease and starvation and provision of shelter are among efforts made by the Feral Feline Organization, which works to provide homeless cats with a new start in Yolo County, Calif.

Since November 2003, the organization has been helping to reduce the feral cat population in the area by way of foster care, adoption and socialization in a process dubbed “TNR”: Trap, neuter and return.

Suzi Bailey, FFO secretary, said that since its inception the organization has trapped and neutered over 75 cats and has adopted over 150 kittens to various families. Bailey said she feels the group’s efforts can dramatically reduce the feral cat population in Davis, Calif., and surrounding areas and also greatly improve the lives of the animals.

“We’ve seen dramatic declines in the number of new cats in the colonies we’ve trapped,” Bailey said. “By neutering these individuals, we are preventing them from producing offspring that can quickly mature to produce their own kittens.”

Feral cats are commonly confused with their stray counterparts. Feral felines are the wild offspring of a domesticated cat that have often never had human contact, largely due to cat owners’ failure to spay or neuter their pets, according to Bailey.

According to the organization’s website, the student-based group originated at UC-Davis and is currently in the process of becoming a federally recognized nonprofit organization.