UTPA has a good-sized colony of feral cats. I noticed a handful on the nights I sat in on Mike's class last semester. Since I've been working there, I've been taking an informal census.
Friday, I counted 16 cats, including 9 adults and 7 kittens. Four of the kittens were so young they didn't have their eyes open yet. Someone--perhaps more than one person--puts food out near the Fine Arts Building and the Health Science Buildings where the cats congregate. I haven't see who yet, but I hope to find out.
Over the weekend, I logged onto the local Craigslist and through a posting there found a website dedicated to feral cat support: http://www.shadowcats.net/index.shtml. I did some reading up and I think I've found a new cause.
Today, I did another count but only came up with 10 cats. I emailed the physical plant to inquire what, if anything, the campus does to control the feral cat population (which only gets larger if nothing is done). I may bring the digital camera to campus and try to document all the different cats/kittens I can.
When I met Mike at his office after work today, I dragged him by one of the kitty hangouts on our way to the parking lot. In the bushes, I spotted more kittens--one I had not seen or counted previously. Mike said "If we had a box, we should take them over to the Humane Society right now."
I volunteered my lunch sack for kitten transport; I plucked two out of the vegetation and heard/saw two more kittens in the bowels of a nearby Coke machine. One was spitting and hissing, but quieted down one it was in the bag. The other was much more docile and the two nestled together in the sack.
We got to the Humane Society just before closing. They had me fill out an intake form and took the kittens. The worker said once the animals were surrendered, they became the property of the H.S. and they couldn't make any promises about the fate of the animals. We agreed.
The kittens were young enough that it's possible to socialize them, but even if they were deemed unhealthy or unadoptable, they would meet a more humane fate at the Humane Society than they would enduring the hardscrabble life of a feral cat.
One of the Humane Society workers said a late professor at Pan Am and a local vet worked out arrangements to trap and neuter/spay the feral cats on campus. I'm hoping I can coordinate efforts with some of the folks who are caring fore/feeding them and see if we (and the university?) can do something to curtail the breeding capacity of the feral cats on campus.
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5 comments:
Let me know how that goes, because we have a similar problem in our neighborhood. I wouldn't mind all the wandering cats so much if they didn't crap in my yard. That I mind. (Shallow, aren't I?)
Are they somebody's pets? Or feral/strays?
If they don't belong to anyone, you could call Animal Control or the local Humane Society to ask what they'd recommend.
What would stop them from crapping the yard: a dog. Of course, they crap, too.
You've inspired a new phrase I'm going to use: "More fun than a sack of feral cats." Not sure how much I'll get to say it, because really, what could be more fun than a sack of feral cats?
We have this situation with colonies of feral cats on our campus, too. It's a problem on many colleague campuses: students get cats because they're relatively easy to hide in dorm rooms, then, when the semester ends, release them. I think it's just unconscionable.... But I'm very glad you're doing something about it. We're lucky in that our administration is pretty humane and refuses to kill the adult cats and opts for the trap, then neuter/spay approach, releasing the cats once they've been fixed, while trying to find homes for any kittens that come along.
Holly
This is a pretty common and contentious problem. But basically, feral cats should be removed from the environment. They are exotic animals that wreck havoc on the ecosystem. Even PETA recommends euthanizing feral cats. Don't spay and neuter them. Trap them and take them to the Humane Society. Those that can be adopted will be. Those that can't, shouldn't be roaming on campus.
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