If you entered them as "feral" that, means they were intended to be TNRed... and the only way to know for sure when they are out in the world is to have the eat tipped. Its to protect the cats as well as keep tabs on who is fixed, who needs to be captured yet.

I think the policy is a darn good one. I'm sorry, but if you wanted to save money on their spay and neuter, then you get the string attached to the savings. I had Abby spayed at a clinic to save on costs... and she got terribly sick and desperately needed to be monitored and given pain meds... she got neither because it was a low cost clinic that does them in a line formation. One done, onto the next. It ripped out my heart and made me sick with worry for weeks, but she pulled through and is a-ok. Will I ever use the clinic again? Sure - for a male. Not for a female. I might reconsider if they changed their policy to ear tipping though.

I'm sorry you had this happen the hard way. {{{HUGS}}}