How to Help Neighborhood Strays
In addition to rescuing cats and running our shelter, FFUR maintains several feral cat colonies in Philadelphia.
Many people contact us about homeless cats in their neighborhoods. Regrettably, the number of homeless cats and kittens in Philadelphia is epidemic. PACCA is forced to euthanize close to 50,000 cats each year.
If you see homeless cats or kittens in your neighborhood and want to know what to do, here are some suggestions:
There is nothing more important than getting these animals OFF the streets. It is better for a cat or kitten to be humanely euthanized than continue to live on the streets where they are subject to starvation, dying of thirst, abuse (cats are targets of children and teens as well as dogs), car accidents (many of the cats we have rescued have had broken bones from being hit by cars), disease, and constant pregnancies.
Whenever possible, capture these animals and take them to the nearest shelter. Don’t feel guilty--in taking the cat off the street you are saving it from a horrible existence. Cats are domestic animals, not wild animals. They have no means of sustaining themselves in an urban environment. Most street cats die of a combination of starvation and disease. The life expectancy of a cat living on the street is only two years. The average healthy housecat lives to be fifteen or more.
PACCA has have-a-heart traps for trapping animals. You should always use gloves when capturing a stray animal. If you do not have a trap, a pillow case is an excellent way to capture a cat and keep it until you can get it to a shelter. The cat cannot injure itself in the pillowcase, can breathe easily through the fabric, and cannot escape (as long as you don’t let go of the pillowcase). It also cannot scratch or bite you. It is easiest to get a cat into a pillowcase when it is eating.
If you decide to feed cats that live on the street, understand you must continue to feed those cats. It becomes a full-time commitment. If you cannot do that, don’t start. Don’t feed cats you don’t have neutered/spayed.
Most low-income neighborhoods like the one FFUR operates from have large numbers of homeless animals. Our best recommendation is to take as many of these animals as possible off the streets. Creating a feral colony that you are committed to caring for is another option, but it requires a large investment of time and money.
Please help homeless cats and kittens in Philadelphia by getting your own pets neutered/spayed, keeping them indoors, and encouraging others to do so.
Thanks for your help in caring for the homeless cats and kittens of Philadelphia. Your donation to FFUR will help further that cause.
--Victoria Brownworth, CEO, FFUR