Speaking of strays....... informal poll (felines, dog, blankets, litter)
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My neighborhood is cat-friendly to a fault. When Weasie (now nearing 19) was a wanderer yet to see her first birthday, an overzealous "foster parent" once scooped her off a nearby sidewalk and spirited her home. Never mind that her name and my phone number were clearly written in bright red on her cloth collar. After three solid weeks of flyering, calls to shelters, etc I received an anonymous tip by voice mail and (after some drama) was able to get my feline back.
I do my part, too, though. On a summer evening last year, I was relaxing on my front steps when a young boy and his very pregnant mother materialized on the sidewalk with flyers in hand. They lived a couple of blocks away and were searching for their four-days-missing kitty. Of course I took their info and the cat's description. Then what to my wondering eyes should appear a few nights thereafter but that very cat! He approached me as I walked to the corner, so I started talking in the kind of silly cat talk we all do while hoping no one hears (.) When he got close enough I was able to gently grab him, and I made a positive ID with the help of his tags. Putting my errand on hold, I hauled him into my arms and lit out for his family's house. The "male head of household" answered the door, warmly thanked me for bringing their four-legged family member home, and then let me know that he (the cat) had come back from his MIA time on his own the day after the search party had gone out.
Part of what ongoing gentrification has done to my neighborhood, besides give me good resale value on my place , is force the strays and ferals to find other areas to exist in. A decrepit detached garage nearby was renovated and now again shelters cars behind locked and functioning doors. Rents in the big apartment building I once lived in have skyrocketed since rent control was abolished, driving the "crazy cat ladies" with their nightly platefuls of canned food away. They've been replaced by yuppies and students who are all about their trophy pets and couldn't care less about homeless animals outside. An abandoned house on the next street over - a haven, one might say a "cat house" but for actual cats - was fully renovated and now has only humans dwelling there. And so on. Between that and the "rescuers" who are in no short supply, I haven't seen a cat (or dog) who can't claim someone to own for some years.
In all the places I've lived from childhood on, there've been no incidents involving strays or ferals that I can recall. As for the community that's been home for 23 years? One long skinny black tomcat - very friendly - found himself a place to live, a big-eared feral tom got outfitted with a little house on a well-sheltered porch with plenty of food until he was adopted, and a "crazy cat lady" didn't stop until she'd caught the entire family of a stray mama kitty and her five young 'uns. That's about it.
As for "real world solutions," something tells me there are laws against them in every state. In some these kinds of things are treated as felonies, and in all they're classified as cruelty to animals. Karma will catch up with the perpetrators if the authorities don't.
I assume by "real world" you mean you kill them in some way rather than take them to a shelter. May I ask which debate forum here on city-data?
We all know cruel heartless people, sociopaths and psychopaths will drown, poison and shoot them, that's nothing new. Look what that kind of person does to his or her fellow human beings. But posts like that really don't belong here on a pet forum where people are not usually heartless sociopaths.
Don't get the self professed cat killer started. We really don't need to visit that again, do we?
I am always finding stray cats, not feral either, these cats were pets, and dumped. When I did not have a job, I was very involved in taking care of them, and I usually found a home for them, even being an outside yard cat with shelter and food is preferable to being a stray, and I have convinced several people who were not "cat" people to take on a cat. I "sell" the cat as a miracle creature that will rid their yard and garage of all rodents bugs, and keep the yard bird free--quite a selling point to people who have strawberries and other fruit they don't want eaten by birds.
I have also trapped feral cats in cages, and taken them to be fixed.
What really upsets me are cats, that were pets, and dumped. They can't really take care of themselves.
My Mom rescues cats, she is extreme about it, she carries food and carriers in her car.
On feeding feral cats, sorry, I don't think this is good. Yes, I feed strays, and then find them homes, but feeding feral cats is not something I support. Trapping and spaying, yes. Feeding, no.
Maybe it's the places I've lived, but I've never found a stray since I've been living on my own. I just don't see animals (cats or dogs) that are wondering. Unless they belong to neighbors and are loose. I've always lived in urban areas, but not necessarily rough neighborhoods.
When I was younger my mom and I found her now 13 year old cat Claire walking up and down the stairs in our apartment building. She was probably only 6 weeks old and someone had obviously left her because she was the sweetest girl.
He approached me as I walked to the corner, so I started talking in the kind of silly cat talk we all do while hoping no one hears (.)
Years ago I was taking care of my sister's cat, Hot Rod. One of my cats let Hot Rod out of the house.
I was able to follow him down the street. He stopped under a parked car in the neighborhood and just sat there. I was on all fours calling his name... trying to coax him to come to me. The car was a 69 Camero.
As for "real world solutions," something tells me there are laws against them in every state. In some these kinds of things are treated as felonies, and in all they're classified as cruelty to animals. Karma will catch up with the perpetrators if the authorities don't.
Snips
Gotcha. A similar thing happened where my mother lived. The neighborhood went through a Renaissance of it's own and the cats were pushed out. Today you don't see a stray cat anywhere in that section of NYC.
Karma? I wish all those who cruelly kill cats would meet the same fate of one of my neighbors when I lived in NY. The man found a littler of kittens in his window well. He put them in a trashcan and added a foot of water. By the time a neighbor realized what was happening and intervened, the babies were dead. The neighbors were horrified and we let him know what we though of him, then shunned him. He acted surprised that anyone would care about these kittens. He became very depressed but must have had some other problems as well.... being shunned and ignored may have been the last straw. His three little daughters found out what he did to the kittens. They were lovely little girls all under 10 at the time.
One night he went down in the basement of his home and commit suicide. As I recall not one neighbor went to the nearby funeral parlor and that included us.
Gotcha. A similar thing happened where my mother lived. The neighborhood went through a Renaissance of it's own and the cats were pushed out. Today you don't see a stray cat anywhere in that section of NYC.
Karma? I whish all those who cruelly kill cats would meet the same fate of one of my neighbors when I lived in NY. The man found a littler of kittens in his window well. He put them in a trashcan and added a foot of water. By the time a neighbor realized what was happening and intervened, the babies were dead. The neighbors were horrified and we let him know what we though of him, then shunned him. He acted surprised that anyone would care about these kittens. He became very depressed but must have had some other problems as well.... being shunned and ignored may have been the last straw. His three little daughters found out what he did to the kittens. They were lovely little girls all under 10 at the time.
One night he went down in the basement of his home and commit suicide. As I recall not one neighbor went to the nearby funeral parlor and that included us.
Oh my gosh, that is HORRIBLE! Horrible what the guy did to the kitties, but more horrible that people SHUNNED his young daughters at his funeral.
What really upsets me are cats, that were pets, and dumped. They can't really take care of themselves.
My Mom rescues cats, she is extreme about it, she carries food and carriers in her car.
I agree 100%. Those are the ones that quickly go downhill. They have poor or no hunting skills or small prey is almost non-existent where they were dumped. Your mother sounds like a kind person.
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On feeding feral cats, sorry, I don't think this is good. Yes, I feed strays, and then find them homes, but feeding feral cats is not something I support. Trapping and spaying, yes. Feeding, no.
Why do you not feel it's a good thing? Some of them are living on the edge of starvation. I myself couldn't turn my back on them. I am also a big believer in TNR and feeding if the colony is malnourished.
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.) When he got close enough I was able to gently grab him, and I made a positive ID with the help of his tags. Putting my errand on hold, I hauled him into my arms and lit out for his family's house. The "male head of household" answered the door, warmly thanked me for bringing their four-legged family member home, and then let me know that he (the cat) had come back from his MIA time on his own the day after the search party had gone out. 
, is force the strays and ferals to find other areas to exist in. A decrepit detached garage nearby was renovated and now again shelters cars behind locked and functioning doors. Rents in the big apartment building I once lived in have skyrocketed since rent control was abolished, driving the "crazy cat ladies" with their nightly platefuls of canned food away. They've been replaced by yuppies and students who are all about their trophy pets and couldn't care less about homeless animals outside. 
An abandoned house on the next street over - a haven, one might say a "cat house" but for actual cats - was fully renovated and now has only humans dwelling there. And so on. Between that and the "rescuers" who are in no short supply, I haven't seen a cat (or dog) who can't claim someone to own for some years.
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