In rural areas, feral cats are sometimes welcomed by farmers and other landowners as low-maintenance providers of rodent control in stables, barns, and feed stores. Some cat adoption centers have exploited this by offering farmers feral cats that they have collected and taken into care.
Properly managed, such programs can be a satisfactory solution to the problem of feral colonies that have become too large or need to be relocated because of health issues.
Although the animals concerned are not regarded as pets, the people who “adopt” them must agree to provide minimum shelter, a small daily amount of cat food to augment whatever prey is taken by hunting, and veterinary care if necessary.