These series are intended to raise awareness about community cats and the manner in which they should be treated. Community cats are happy living outside. They thrive when they are outside and independent. They are able to fend for themselves and live in groups. When someone finds a feral cat or kittens they often bring the animals to an animal shelter thinking they will be taken care of and that someone will adopt them. However, most feral cats and kittens that end up in the shelter are killed because they aren’t adoptable. Feral cats are cats that have not been socialized with people. They tend to hiss and be afraid/aggressive to people. The shelter is not a good place for feral cats.
Millions of cats call the streets of Los Angeles home and it is so important to enact a TNR (trap, neuter, return) program in the city. TNR controls the feral cat population by having people and/or rescue groups trapping free-roaming cats in their neighborhood, bringing them to get spayed or neutered, and then returning the cats to the exact location where they were trapped so they can live out the rest of their lives. In 2014, 10,000 cats were killed in LA city shelters. 5,000 of those were underage kittens born to feral cats. The shelter is unable to care for underage kittens and since cats cannot be adopted until they are 8 weeks old, little babies are often euthanized.
This is why it is so important both to foster/volunteer at animal shelters and to understand the lifestyles of community cats. People don’t realize how many community cats live in Los Angeles because they are good at not being seen. They usually prowl at night and sleep during the day and they are very good at hiding and avoiding human contact. They have adapted to live outside and are much happier outside and independent than scared in a shelter.
More info: caseyelise.com
