Our house abuts a wilderness area that’s been home to a colony of feral cats that the neighborhood has cared for for years (including spaying and neutering, and finding homes for the amenable ones). A couple of months ago a new family moved in across the street, and just now they had Animal Control out to gather up the cats. These are not adoptable cats, else they’d all have been homed already.
They took out a hit on the cats, basically. Motherfuckers.
A neighbor of mine started feed a couple stray cats. The population has exploded. Unlike OP’s area, there’s not really any support for TNR programs in my area. It’s horrible for the cats, the neighbor that fed them moved. So, the cats are malnourished, infested with fleas and mites, get attacked by dogs in the backyards. It’s horrible for the homeowners too since these cats are marking their territory which is stinking up the sides of the homes, outdoor furniture and they are tearing up gardens. When I first moved here, there were tons of hummingbirds. Haven’t seen one in awhile and I miss them.
