It used to be that a feral cat had little chance of exiting a shelter alive after he entered. But that's no longer the case. In recent years, more and more shelters have adopted Return-to-Field (RTF) programs. Instead of euthanizing healthy community cats (whether feral, friendly or otherwise), the shelter will spay or neuter, eartip and vaccinate, then return the cat back to where he was found. We'll cover the policies behind RTF, the mechanics of implementing the program, current controversies over the RTF of friendly cats, and how to combine RTF with TNR in general to lower cat populations and create sustainability.