“Efforts for socialization and adoption rival even TNR in popularity. Many people, whether they consider themselves “cat people” or “dog people,” have an ethical stance on animal welfare that is best reflected by ensuring that animals find suitable homes with good owners, with many of them considering their pets a part of their own family (Brown, “About half of U.S. pet owners say their pets are as much a part of their family as a human member.”).

Unlike its similarly popular counterpart strategy, TNR, socialization and adoption is not a path that is available to all ferals. In many cases, only cats who are described as friendly even before foster socialization are taken on by programs given the high number of ferals and equally high number of already socialized cats waiting for adoption.

The dependence on volunteers for programs like these can be either positive or negative depending on the viewpoint. People are a limited resource, and the number of people willing to volunteer their time to a possibly volatile animal is limited even further. However, a great number of people that volunteer through fostering find it to be a rewarding experience.

Kristiina Wilson, writing for Cattitude Adjustment, speaks of the tedious process of socialization, “Building trust with feral cats requires patience and respect for their boundaries”. This process takes time and a great deal of patience, which many people cannot fit into their busy schedules, but the reward is a second chance at life for a cat that caused harm by no fault or intention of their own. 

And though many fostered ferals go to new homes, another benefit of this process is for those that adopt them. For all the mentions of the ways in which they can negatively affect human health in bacteria-ridden environments as ferals, domestic cats can have a huge influence on physical and mental health. An article on Welia Health attributes benefits such as stress-reduction and allergy management as just some of the ways cats can provide care to us (“The purrfect prescription: Health benefits of owning a cat”).”