An inside look at Puget Sound's underreported overpopulation of feral cats
RENTON - While most were winding down from New Year’s Eve celebrations, Camille Sutherland was under a mobile home crawl space among broken pipes and cobwebs, following the sounds of teeny-tiny meows.
As Sutherland recalls, her friends were urging her that it was time to go. It was 1 a.m. and the temperature had dipped to 22 degrees.
"They ended up pulling me out by my feet, and I have two little cats and I’m like: ‘I got them!’"
To the uninitiated, it sounds like a wild story – to the volunteers who are quietly keeping our area’s feral cat population in check, it’s just another day.
THE PROBLEM
The numbers surrounding feral cats are eye-popping. It’s been estimated that there are between 60 and 100 million stray and feral cats in the United States.
The problem isn’t new, but a wrinkle was added during the height of the pandemic. As PPE was in short supply, clinics that perform spay and neuter services shut down and the dedicated nonprofits and volunteers that try to keep these populations in check had fewer services to rely on.
It’s a numbers game. A cat can give birth as early as four or five months old. Cats can get pregnant multiple times a year, with multiple kittens in each litter – if those cats grow up without reproductive interference, the growth becomes exponential quickly.
TNR, or trap-neuter-return, is the main management method of community cats. It is, however, labor-intensive.
In most communities, animal control doesn’t have the manpower to round up cats and ensure the next generation of feral cats are not reproducing – the work typically falls on nonprofits and volunteers.
That doesn’t mean the work isn’t vitally important. From an emotional standpoint, cats can survive outdoors, albeit it’s a hard life. Feral cats also have ecological impacts when left unchecked: disease, attacks on other wildlife and overpopulation.
THE FRONTLINES
On a Wednesday morning, dozens of cars lined up for the South County Spay & Neuter Clinic in Renton.
On this day, they’ll spay or neuter 55 cats – those range from feral cats trapped in various South Sound neighborhoods, to pets and shelter cats. It’s a flurry of activity on the inside.
Locations are set aside for vaccines and flea treatments. There’s a space to put the cats to sleep, and shave them for surgery prep and a veterinarian is in the back surgery unit working on cats one after another, as they rotate in.
The staff call it high quality, high volume.
"We’re a well-oiled machine," one technician says, before calling out the number of cats heading into the surgical suite.
The clinic itself is a testament to how much work is needed in the feral cat space. As Sally Halela, the founder of South County Cats, explained, her work began as a volunteer to foster kittens in the late 90s – eventually, she became a trapper, but the work continued to pile up.
"Our rescue exceeded the capacity of other organizations we were working with," explained Halela, the founder of South County Cats.
That’s why South County Cats built their spay and neuter clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic. Six days a month, they perform surgeries on up to 70 cats per day. There is no cost for feral or free-roaming cats – meaning there’s round-the-year work to obtain grant funding and donations to continue services that include rabies vaccines, spay-and-neuter services and flea treatments.
To date, they’ve spayed or neutered more than 7,000 cats. The partner organization that they modeled their work after, Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Project, surpassed 150,000 recently.
"We do it because we know we are making a difference, and we know what will happen if we don’t do it," said Halela.
THE TRAPPERS
While the flurry of activity inside a clinic can be dizzying, the hours that trappers keep may be a more difficult figure to wrap your head around.
"Most of us know one another," explained Sutherland.
There’s a bevy of organizations in the areas Sutherland works with or recommends: South County Cats, Alley Cat Project, South Sound Snip & Tip, and Feisty Felines. According to Sutherland, the trappers that work with each other know each other – it’s a small community.
We caught up with Sutherland and Angela Pagnossin in December at an industrial site that Pagnossin had been working since May. On Wednesday, they released four cats.
Asked how many cats they’ve already trapped over the years, they said it was too high to count. Between the pair, they estimated they had captured a little more than 400 cats or kittens this year. At the Pacific site, Pagnossin noted she’s already captured 21 cats, along with 16 kittens.
"All of those kittens have gone into foster care," she said. "Six of the cats weren’t feral, they were somewhat social so that was a win."
Wins are hard to come by. Generally speaking, if a cat is feral, it’ll be TNR’d. Each cat captured is put through a test to double-check if they can be socialized and adopted out.
"Lots of times, people don’t even realize how bad it is before it’s out of control," said Pagnossin.
"People will call us and say, ‘Oh, we saw kittens in our backyard,’ we get out there and there will be 50 to 60 cats. It’s crazy! So, I want people to know spay and neuter first, then feed these cats – feral cats are house cats that are just afraid of people."
GETTING TECHNICAL
Over the years, trapping has become far more technical in nature.
Case in point, the robo-traps created by former Boeing engineer Deb Skilton. Skilton pointed out that the invention was a logical update to work with a long-standing problem: with large cat colonies it’s hard to capture the final few cats that require TNR.
Once a cat has been TNR’d it’s given a universal ear tip marking so that people know the cat isn’t a threat to add to the outdoor population of cats. That makes it easier to know which cats need services, and which ones have already gotten them.
In the past, trappers did curbside campouts with adapted garage door openers to trigger traps so they could sit a distance away from a cat colony and push a button to close the door – an upgrade to trapping a cat each time it triggered a trap.
Skilton went a step further, using a wifi hot spot and web cameras so she could trap from a great distance. In theory, she could trap a cat from the other side of the globe – though, she only closes a trap’s door when she knows a volunteer is nearby to pick the cat up immediately.
"There are cats I’ve stayed up all night, and not gotten the cat," said Skilton.
"I stayed up the next night too! You have got to adjust your schedule to a cat schedule. Yeah, I’ve gone out more than once at two or three in the morning to get a cat."
HOW TO HELP
Those who get into the TNR community tell FOX 13 it’s like a drug.
"You get addicted because you know the difference you’re making in the community," said Halela. "Others say it’s like the mafia – once you’re in, you can’t get out."
While those doing the work have thrown themselves into it, there’s a reality: they can only do so much on their own.
Sutherland told FOX 13 that when you spot a feral cat, you need to flag a spay-and-neuter group immediately. If kittens are involved, they’re a priority, because if they’re captured fast enough they can be adopted out.
Beyond that, she said it’s helpful when people are willing to take the traps instead of waiting for a member of the trapping community to do the work – calls come in regularly, and they’re spread thin.
She also said volunteering can help.
"Not everyone is going to be a trapper," said Sutherland. "It’s a lot of hard work – not everyone wants to go through that, but we need transporters, we need people to make houses for feral cats, we need fosters especially semi-feral fosters. We really try to save every single one. If you have the space in your home and a big heart – you can help in other ways."
At South County Cats, Halela said they’re constantly in need of towels, cat carriers and supplies.
"The most important thing you can do for us is share information," said Halela. "Tell your neighbors, tell your friends that there are resources available to help their pet cats, or the feral cats in your community."
DIY FERAL CAT SHELTERS
This time of year, cats are at-risk in the elements. Given that TNR services means that cats will continue to live in the community, groups also work hard to ensure they have a shelter space.
Pagnossin and Sutherland told FOX 13 that they regularly need supplies for feral cat shelters, but that others can create them, as well.
"What you really want to do is get straw in there," explained Pagnossin. "Straw in a warm shelter will keep their body heat in, and will keep them warm all winter – if you can afford a heating pad, that’s awesome."
Shelters are generally made out of large tubs with holes cut in them for cats to safely enter, and exit. If you choose to use a heating pad – it’s recommended that you choose one that is graded for outdoor use.
While some people leave blankets out as the weather turns cold, any type of fabric can be harmful to cats. Blankets, towels and other items hold moisture which causes more harm than good. The experts say that filling a shelter with straw, or an outdoor heating pad, is the only way to go.
Pagnossin and Sutherland recommended the following items, and directions:
- 30-gallon Rubbermaid tub
- A roll of Gorilla tape, or T-Rex tape (not duct tape)
- Silver insulation lining, or insulation board (they often pick it up for free from PetSmart stores)
- Straw (not hay!)
STEPS
- Begin by cutting two holes. They should be on opposite sides in case a predator sticks it’s head inside the shelter. The holes should be 7" wide – jigsaws, and reciprocating saws works well for this.
- Use tape to secure the insulation material to the sides, bottoms and a piece under the lid.
- Fill up with straw.
- Place the lid on, it’s suggested that you write "Feral Cat Shelter" or "Kitten house" so that people understand why it’s placed in its location.
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