Feral Cats Prey On Rats

Feral???  Yes, Bella, Parental Unit found you on the street 12 years ago, but you must have been too young to remember...

But feral cats in New York city are being put to work to control the city's rat population, and seem to be doing a darn good job. After going through the trap, spay/neuter, release program, felines are being deployed throughout neighborhoods and on docks and convention centers where food is frequently unloaded...and their predator instincts have kicked in. "We used to hire exterminators, but nature has a better solution," said the sustainability manager at New York's Jacob Javits Center.

But these cats don't necessarily kill the rodents, but rather their scent and droppings repel them.

Since tomorrow is National Cat Day, let us know how you and your feline friends will be celebrating, and/or how you will be helping the stray or homeless shelter cats in your community.  And if you're lacking for ways to celebrate or contribute, check out these Top 20 Ways To Celebrate this special day.

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Taking The No-KIll Strategy With Feral Cats

           Photo of feral kitty by Ruth Fremson for the NY Times

This New York Times story gives all cat lovers something important to ponder: How should humans handle the expanding feral cat population, particularly in large urban areas? The solution appears to be down to two options, neither of which are terrific. One is the trap, spay/neuter, release strategy advocated by many animal rights groups like Alley Cat Allies. The idea is that true feral cats really have nowhere else to go but the streets because they are not socialized to humans. The best strategy then, is to unleash an army of volunteers to trap as many cats as possible, take them in for surgery and then release them back to their native colonies. While this option clearly will stop the exponential growth of cat colonies, it does nothing to prevent the cats from "obliterating wildlife", says a representative from the American Bird Conservancy. Statistical counts show that feral and even indoor/outdoor pet cats contribute to millions of backyard bird deaths each year.

And then there's the round 'em up and take 'em to a shelter strategy, which practically ensures that 70% or more will be euthanized. So what to do? We think the good news, at least for the cats, is that the trap, spay/neuter, release strategy is gaining popularity across the country. And in New York City, at least, there's currently about 5,500 or so volunteers ready to ensure that thousands of cats can no longer reproduce—and that is no easy task. We salute these dedicated volunteers in New York and across the country for their generous donation of time and resources to help permanently reduce the feral cat population.

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Cats Rule The (Art) World

John Hiltunens "Untitled" 2013, courtesy of  the White Columns gallery and The New York Times

Well at least for this one, really cool show in New York city, they do. A group exhibition aptly titled "The Cat Show", includes "...more than 50 examples of cat portraiture executed in every possible medium", including the collage pictured above , and is on display at the nonprofit White Columns gallery through July 27th. And in the center of the exhibit is an "art appointed cat habitat" with all manner of playthings for kitties: a dangling calico mobile, colossal litter box and climbing stations galore.

Photo of "Cat Habitat" courtesy of White Columns gallery and The New York Times

The extra cool aspect of this show is that on the weekends, cats from local shelters in need of a home will be playing in the habitat, ready to pull a potential adopter's heartstrings. The show's organizer, a self-professed cat person, describes the feline habitat structure as "...more of a social structure that uses art as a conduit for rescue. Anything as a conduit for rescue sounds like a great idea to us, but all the better if it involves art. 

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A Neighborhood Mourns A Cat

We found this New York Times article incredibly uplifting, even though it centers on a funeral for a beloved neighborhood cat, affectionately known as "The Mayor of Seventh Street", in New York's East Village. Pretty Boy, who was believed to be 22 at his passing from natural causes this past May, "unleashed a storm of emotion" among those whose lives he touched. "He knew he was the man. He was the man on East Seventh Street. Everybody just loved him," said one grieving woman, who used to work at the pet shop where Pretty Boy held court.

                 Pretty Boy in 2006. Photo courtesy of New York Times

But "The Mayor" didn't just lie around-he spent his days visiting the shops on Seventh Street, purring all the while. He had a particular affinity for hair salons, leading one of the Mayor's closest friends, the owner of a neighborhood salon, to believe that Pretty Boy was a reincarnated hairdresser. And the beloved cat was clearly nondenominational-he spent his Saturdays greeting families who stopped by after services from a neighborhood synagogue, and on Sunday, hosted children from a Ukrainian church.

The salon owner summed it up nicely: "You get so hard living here...but pets open up that heart center. There is something about the unconditional love; they clean the blues off of you."
Cleaning off the blues, indeed. Our condolences to the grieving citizens of East Seventh Street.
Enjoy the full article here: www.nytimes.com/2009/06/20/nyregion/20prettyboy.html

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