Slope Street Cats Successfully Relocates Endangered Feral Cat Colony - Spring 2007 - Out of the Cage!, the E-Newsletter of the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals

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Slope Street Cats Successfully Relocates Endangered Feral Cat Colony

JFK eyes his caretakers suspiciously from his perch at the Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn moments before he is trapped for transport to his new home. (Photo by Dennis Ho, The Brooklyn Papers)

JFK eyes his caretakers suspiciously from his perch at the Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn moments before he is trapped for transport to his new home.

(Photo by Dennis Ho,
The Brooklyn Papers)

For nearly two years, volunteers from Slope Street Cats (SSC), a member of the NYC Feral Cat Council and Feral Cat Initiative of the Mayor's Alliance, managed a small colony of cats in Prospect Heights. They had the cats spayed or neutered, and handled the colony's daily feeding.

But in March, the property on which the cats lived was slated for demolition by the Atlantic Yards developer. Recognizing that the colony was in imminent danger of being dispersed or destroyed, SSC decided to undertake the somewhat risky project of trapping and relocating the cats.

"It's often difficult to relocate feral cats, because they become disoriented and run away," explains Laura Brahm, SSC Executive Director. "The recommended process is that they be confined at their new location for 21 days. Supposedly, if the cats are with their family members, they are more likely to stick around." Since most of the cats in this particular colony are related, it appeared that chances were good that the relocation would be successful.

Grey Boy, the elder statesman of the colony, enjoys a meal in his new location. To the left is one of the winter shelters prepared by SSC volunteers. (Photo by Laura Brahm)

Grey Boy, the elder statesman of the colony, enjoys a meal in his new location. To the left is one of the winter shelters prepared by SSC volunteers.

(Photo by Laura Brahm)

Fortunately for the cats, a nearby resident offered her backyard as the colony's new home site. Volunteers built an enclosure there to confine the cats for the three-week "confinement" period. Next, under pressure from the Atlantic Yards to move the cats within a week, the trapping began. Patiently and skillfully, volunteers trapped and transported the cats to their new home a few block away. All 11 cats were moved to safety before the "wheels of progress" moved in to begin preparing for the demolition of their former home.

But who's looking back? The colony is safe again, and thriving, according to Laura. "They're eating a lot, and getting fat," she reports.

To learn more about the activities of Slope Street Cats and what they are doing to enhance the lives of feral cats in their area, visit www.SlopeStreetCats.com.

Slope Street Cats networks, educates, equips, and funds the many residents of Park Slope who feed, shelter, and trap/neuter/return (TNR) the feral cats in their neighborhood, with the goal of making Park Slope a cleaner, safer, and more animal-kind environment. They encourage the spay/neuter of pet cats, provide education, training, and services for the TNR of feral cats, maintain an agency and foster care network to socialize, house, and find new homes for friendly, formerly feral cats and kittens, and finance veterinary care, vaccinations, and spay/neuter surgeries. Slope Street Cats is a member of the NYC Feral Cat Council and Feral Cat Initiative of the Mayor's Alliance.

For more information about Slope Street Cats, visit www.SlopeStreetCats.com. For more information on the NYC Feral Cat Council and Feral Cat Initiative, visit www.NYCFeralCat.org.