Today is National Feral Cat Day which was started by Alley Cat Allies back in 2001 to bring attention to the plight of millions of feral cats and stray cats that live on our streets.
Feral cats are not your ordinary cats; although they could have been someone’s pet at some point in their life until they were kept outside where they learn to live on their own in the wild. Many of these homeless cats join feral cat colonies.
An important point to remember- many people don’t like feral cats but you must NEVER forget how they arrived at this point in their lives. It is not their fault. Many are discarded like yesterday’s trash and are forced to fend for themselves!
Most feral cats can live healthy, quality lives but there are also many groups/organizations who try to make their lives better through trap-neuter-return programs. Two such local organizations are Safe Cat Network and the Fairchild Foundation. Lynn Smith is the president of the Safe Cat Network and Dr. Jennifer Fry in the new Director of the Fairchild Foundation.
Both groups do great work for those cats that others discard so easily!!
NOTE- Dr. Fry has told me they need more volunteers and will be holding a meeting October 25th at the Berks Historical Society at 2 PM to recruit more people. If you want to help save the lives of stray and feral cats and want to make their lives better, join them on the 25th. Anyone is welcome. If you have questions, please feel free to email Dr. Fry at fairchildfoundation@gmail.com.