Visited my larger colony this morning to cover a few sleeping shelters with dark plastic. When I checked on one of them yesterday it had about 2 inches of water inside from all the rain we had a couple of days ago. I could hardly sleep last night for thinking about it. This is the sleeping shelter that my oldest cat in the colony sleeps in. I thought about her all night, wondering if she was hunkered down in it with no hay to curl up in and having to deal with the cold night air inside a damp crate. Me and "Mary" have had a silent bond since we first saw each other. She is a very skinny, frail looking kitty,whose rough existence has etched itself within her eyes. She always waits for me at feeding time and I greet her the same way everyday, calling out, "Hey old girl" and she always gives me a look of worn down excitement from so many years of struggling and sickness.
When I first ran across this colony of 30 cats they were all skinny, starving and sick and although it looked as though someone was leaving food for them ever so often ,it was not protected and stayed wet, moldy and full of bugs. The cats were across the street from where they are at now and there was only a hedge for them to hide in, and quite a few lived and slept right there. I use to track out in the pouring rain in the winter with these huge sheets of plastic and cover the hedges for them with it., so the food could stay dry and some of the cats could at least sit under a dry roof. The plastic would sometimes remain in place for a day or so before being torn down.
When the physician of the building in that area decided to "starve out" the cats because some of his patients were "afraid" of them, my brain went into overdrive. Here were 30 sick, pitiful souls who had lived a horrble existence in such a short time and yet someone wanted to kill them by starvation! Who were these people who felt "afraid" of seeing a starving sad kitty? Did they even own a heart? This physician had me pulled over twice by the police after feeding and I was threatened with trespassing if caught in the parking lot at anytime or seen giving them food. Little did they know that their threats made me even more in tune with my "feline compassion" and although I wanted to openly feed anyway I knew being arrested would only strap me finacially so....I ended up feeding at midnight instead.
Within days I started noticing food left behind and although it could have been because of a change in schedule my gut told me something else. My fear was that the cats were being poisoned. I now know they were not being poisoned, but instead being trapped and taken to who knows where and released back out. The management of the building had paid their groundskeeper to do this.
Today the remaining cats are across the street behind a tall fenced in area. Relocating them took awhile but soon they were able to find the food I put out. The management in the new area has given me the ok to feed as long as I keep them away from the parking lot area. They now have a large wooden feeding shelter and over 9 crates to sleep in scattered around. Although it is a better place for them, my heart still aches for the ones who never showed up again. Mary is the last of the old ones from that group.
I feel like I owe her way more than an empty crate with no straw that feels cold and damp........so tonight...my dear old friend...you shall be warm again.
When I first ran across this colony of 30 cats they were all skinny, starving and sick and although it looked as though someone was leaving food for them ever so often ,it was not protected and stayed wet, moldy and full of bugs. The cats were across the street from where they are at now and there was only a hedge for them to hide in, and quite a few lived and slept right there. I use to track out in the pouring rain in the winter with these huge sheets of plastic and cover the hedges for them with it., so the food could stay dry and some of the cats could at least sit under a dry roof. The plastic would sometimes remain in place for a day or so before being torn down.
When the physician of the building in that area decided to "starve out" the cats because some of his patients were "afraid" of them, my brain went into overdrive. Here were 30 sick, pitiful souls who had lived a horrble existence in such a short time and yet someone wanted to kill them by starvation! Who were these people who felt "afraid" of seeing a starving sad kitty? Did they even own a heart? This physician had me pulled over twice by the police after feeding and I was threatened with trespassing if caught in the parking lot at anytime or seen giving them food. Little did they know that their threats made me even more in tune with my "feline compassion" and although I wanted to openly feed anyway I knew being arrested would only strap me finacially so....I ended up feeding at midnight instead.
Within days I started noticing food left behind and although it could have been because of a change in schedule my gut told me something else. My fear was that the cats were being poisoned. I now know they were not being poisoned, but instead being trapped and taken to who knows where and released back out. The management of the building had paid their groundskeeper to do this.
Today the remaining cats are across the street behind a tall fenced in area. Relocating them took awhile but soon they were able to find the food I put out. The management in the new area has given me the ok to feed as long as I keep them away from the parking lot area. They now have a large wooden feeding shelter and over 9 crates to sleep in scattered around. Although it is a better place for them, my heart still aches for the ones who never showed up again. Mary is the last of the old ones from that group.
I feel like I owe her way more than an empty crate with no straw that feels cold and damp........so tonight...my dear old friend...you shall be warm again.