For weeks we have seen this cat on our cameras out in the bitter cold. For weeks we have left food out for her. She would come twice a day most every day. She would appear on the cameras at 3 in the morning and then at different times during the day and always disappear into the trailer park across the road. It was clear that she was not being taken care of or fed.
One recent night the temperature dropped to minus 6. We knew it was going to be cold and we also knew it was too cold to set a trap, but most importantly we knew she couldn’t stay out there one more night. We came up with the idea to wrap the live trap in an electric blanket. We had an outdoor electrical plug.
The trap was set and the blanket was on where she normally eats. We went inside and we waited. A few hours later she came to eat, went into the live trap and was caught. Last night, for the first time in a long time, she spent the night inside in a nice comfy bed where it was safe and warm and she had a full belly. She is a very sweet girl.
All the volunteers slept well that night knowing she was safe. We had all worried about her for weeks. The next step will be to get her to the vet. We have named her Midnight.
Midnight is not the only cat that has showed up at the Aark looking for food. Another black unneutered male cat whom we named Reggie showed up at the Ark two weeks ago and was caught. No one came to claim him.
I have heard it said that cats are being dropped off at the trailer park. I am not sure I totally buy that. but we will give it the benefit of the doubt. We put an offer out to everyone at the park for assistance with no-cost neutering and spaying. Two people took us up on that offer. We were disappointed there weren’t more. We met two very kind people who wanted to make a difference and hopefully opened a line of communication.
One thing we do know is that there is a problem in the area, and we can all ignore it or we can work together to solve it. This is a problem involving innocent animals and their lives. The Ark has been operating for nine years, and in those nine years we have caught at least 50 cats in our own backyard. The majority of them have been black or black and white. We have also seen many diseases in those cats like AIDS, leukemia and feline infectious peritonitis.
We can preach and preach about the importance of neutering and spaying, but until everyone gets on the same page it is only going to continue to happen. Currently the Ark has approximately 90-100 cats. We are out of space. Our intake numbers are greater than our adoptions.
This post is not meant to belittle anyone, but just to state the facts. If you go on the defense it solves nothing. If you stick your head in the sand it solves nothing. We are not the enemy. We are throwing you a lifeline. Take advantage of it. We may not always have space for another cat, but we have food and litter and we have plenty of information until space becomes available.
Watching this kitty was devastating to us. She shouldn’t have to live this way.
Thank you for your continued support and, as always, thank you for reading our column.
