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In all the sections of Queens I was familiar with. I only knew of one colony of ferals and that was the one by my mother's house. People complained in time so the ASPCA came and trapped every last one of them. The priests who were caring for them were very upset by this act.
With the heavy traffic and number of cruel people who poison cats in NYC, the cold winters and starvation along with disease,... it's hard for me to understand how there can be so many strays turned in to Animal Control and the Rescues. Where are they all coming from?
I cannot be sure of this, but am guessing that since you didn't do TNR you were not as aware of colonies and ferals as I am. Ferals hide, you know, quite a bit of the time.
No, this problem is not new and existed when you lived in Queens, I can tell you that. It has just grown much worse. As I say, all over.
This is all news to me. Sad news. There were always strays here and there but even after dark when teens are hanging out and cats are most active, few were seen. Later when I worked at the animal hosp I would get calls from Pet Stores to remember to bring them abandoned kittens from the Hosp or that someone found and turned over to the Hosp or myself at home. But then Queens didn't have the number of immigrants and low-income people either.
I didn't realize what TNR involved. Good grief! I don't know what to say.
This is truly heart breaking news to me and quite an education. Here in TN we have a lot of people who feed the colonies of ferals but much fewer that TNR them. Now I can understand why.
Yes, I remember the dead cats I would sometimes see in winter among the trash cans when I lived in Brooklyn in the 40s and 50s. Skeletal, diseased, dirty.... it was so sad but then the problem seemed to all but vanish by the mid 1950s - about the time we moved to Queens. It may be the problem comes and goes for some reason. Like the lemmings or rabbit overpopulation sometimes seen in nature.....
Please go to this website and read all about feral cats today:
By the way, the colony that I help TNR: This colony came to my attention because I was on the phone list as a volunteer Feral Friends Network person for Alley Cat Alllies.
By the way, the colony that I help TNR: This colony came to my attention because I was on the phone list as a volunteer Feral Friends Network person for Alley Cat Alllies.
I will check both sites. Thank you for this information, sad as it is. I'm happy that there are people there in NY willing to do something about the problem. At least that's a positive.
I will check both sites. Thank you for this information, sad as it is. I'm happy that there are people there in NY willing to do something about the problem. At least that's a positive.
Yes, but there are not enough of us...and I am doing it "light" because I have other things I must take care of in my life!
We need an army of people to do it and public funding (ha ha).
Kudo's to you for caring for her and getting her spayed, that should make her more adoptable. Best of luck.
Thanks - I got a very encouraging e-mail from a fellow rescuer who adopts out literally dozens of cats she takes off the streets of NYC - she is truly amazing. She is a miracle worker. I asked her what is her secret? She said it is simply not giving up and persisting. She says it can take months but keep it up. So, I will.
This kitten is adorable.
She's a kitten but now I have to call her a young cat: She is almost 6 months:
Yes, but there are not enough of us...and I am doing it "light" because I have other things I must take care of in my life!
We need an army of people to do it and public funding (ha ha).
With literally millions of people in NYC I'm truly surprised you can't get enough of them interested in helping and donating money to the cause. I keep forgetting it's not the NYC I left in 1979.
With literally millions of people in NYC I'm truly surprised you can't get enough of them interested in helping and donating money to the cause. I keep forgetting it's not the NYC I left in 1979.
But there is not enough money, not even barely enough, to help save the lives of the healthy animals put to death in shelters in NYC every single day! So, who is going to put up money for feral cat care? I'd like to know that one <s>.
Americans love to spend on their pets but they remain largely indifferent to the dire situation of homeless cats and dogs. Sure there are private shelters, but not nearly enough homes for these animals so applicants are turned away unless it is a kill shelter.
Do you know much about this topic? I don't want to say things you already know.
This is the baby who is losing her teeth, yes? This may sound awful, might that actually might make the process of finding a home just a little easier.
It gives you a great story and opens up avenues to market her as 'special needs'. Not special needs in that she needs more care, since losing teeth won't affect her too much. Basically you have a cat you can market as needing 'special' love without actually requiring the adopter to do anything in particular or spend a great deal of money. It's a feel-good rescue without a lot of heartbreak or expensive.
That probably sounds really cold and manipulative, but this really is a marketing problem. When I was 'fostering' Jonas I thought finding a home for him would be terribly hard. He was feral, blind, and still needed surgeries that were going to be costly. By writing a good story and marketing him in the right places, I got a much bigger response than I expected.
I would focus on special needs websites and mailing lists...there are many, some small and local and others national. But really you just want to plaster her pic and story everywhere you can find. Talk about how much she's overcome and how bright her spirit is. You want to really play it up that this cat beat the odds (even if you have to slightly stretch the truth.)
Again, cold but I worked in sales for many years. There's a reason why people jump to adopt the animal when a big abuse case hits the media. Many times if they aren't able to adopt that individual animal, they do still adopt, but that first impulse comes from the desire to really make a difference in an animal's life.
This is the baby who is losing her teeth, yes? This may sound awful, might that actually might make the process of finding a home just a little easier.
It gives you a great story and opens up avenues to market her as 'special needs'. Not special needs in that she needs more care, since losing teeth won't affect her too much. Basically you have a cat you can market as needing 'special' love without actually requiring the adopter to do anything in particular or spend a great deal of money. It's a feel-good rescue without a lot of heartbreak or expensive.
That probably sounds really cold and manipulative, but this really is a marketing problem. When I was 'fostering' Jonas I thought finding a home for him would be terribly hard. He was feral, blind, and still needed surgeries that were going to be costly. By writing a good story and marketing him in the right places, I got a much bigger response than I expected.
I would focus on special needs websites and mailing lists...there are many, some small and local and others national. But really you just want to plaster her pic and story everywhere you can find. Talk about how much she's overcome and how bright her spirit is. You want to really play it up that this cat beat the odds (even if you have to slightly stretch the truth.)
Again, cold but I worked in sales for many years. There's a reason why people jump to adopt the animal when a big abuse case hits the media. Many times if they aren't able to adopt that individual animal, they do still adopt, but that first impulse comes from the desire to really make a difference in an animal's life.
Oh, you worked in sales? <ggg> I can really use that advice you gave me! <sss> I may be mistaken, but I got the impression that one of my colony colleagues (one of the nicest, most altruistic, kindest, common sense, conscientious people I have ever had the honor of working with - she is what keeps me going on this discouraging colony and I mean it, her dogged resolve to s/n and care for all in spite of a somewhat not safe (for us I mean) area, a junk filled huge site, etc.) was afraid of me posting it as how you described it, but that was my first impulse, too. In other words, I had the exact same thoughts as you.
My colleague won't give me any problem if I do post her that way. She's easy. But I agree with you.
If you have any suggestions for special sites for special needs kittens/cats for adoption, let me know. But, as I think about it, it really needs to be local local local, i.e. metro nyc.
Thanks for your great post.
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Sad news. There were always strays here and there but even after dark when teens are hanging out and cats are most active, few were seen. Later when I worked at the animal hosp I would get calls from Pet Stores to remember to bring them abandoned kittens from the Hosp or that someone found and turned over to the Hosp or myself at home. But then Queens didn't have the number of immigrants and low-income people either. 
Good grief! I don't know what to say. 
