by TerrieLynn Bach
Last April, Bastrop C.A.T.S. TNR Coordinator Martha received a request for us to come trap on a neighbor’s private property. Martha quickly told “Paula” that we cannot do this without the property owner’s permission.
Paula said that Animal Control had told her the same thing. So Martha asked her if anyone was feeding these cats or if she knew who owns the house.
Paula replied, “I have spoken to all surrounding neighbors; no one is feeding them, and everyone is tired of them. I see them around trash cans, and we live on the north side of town where there are plenty of creatures I’m sure they can hunt. That being said, they are all extremely skinny and sad looking.
Continuing, Paula added, “There are 2 long-time empty houses, side by side, where the cats congregate. What I understand from neighbors is that the owners died around the same time years ago.”
One of our trapper volunteers went by the address to scope things out, but couldn’t find anyone to talk to. Paula then dropped communication with us.
Six months later, in October, “Dave,” a different neighbor, emailed us with a slightly different story:
Hi fellow cat lovers,
My wife and I have been periodically checking back with this house that has a collection of stray/feral kitties living in the garage.
We met the homeowner “Harriet” over this past weekend when we stopped by to feed the cats, and Harriet requested that we help her with trapping and rehoming –or at least fixing and releasing them.
Harriet told us that her neighbor “Nancy” recently passed away, and Nancy’s daughter just put her unfixed cat(s) on the street, at which point they made a home in Harriet’s garage.
There are at least two litters of kittens living there with a few adults. Harriet thought there might be up to 20 in her garage, but I have not seen anything to give me the impression it’s more than 10-12.
We’re happy to help in any way we can. We just want to get this situation fixed as the homeowner is too elderly and infirm to do anything about it herself.
As Dave was able to get permission for us to trap on the property, our trapper volunteer went back out there and trapped and fixed 14 cats from this property!
Neighbors agreed that they would continue feeding them but need help with providing said food.
Right now, Bastrop C.A.T.S. needs donations to cover the total cost of $700 for spay-neutering and vaccinating these 14 cats @ $50 each.
Please go to our Amazon Wish List and order cat and kitten food for these kitties so neighbors can continue to feed them. If directly donating funds is easier for you, we welcome all financial donations, as well. Even $5 from each of our newsletter readers will help us reach our goal.
Thank you!
And consider the future of your elderly family members. Help them make a plan now for when they are no longer able to take care of their cats so that there isn’t a repeat of this in their neighborhoods!