# Dealing with Stray Cats in Bay Area **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 22, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-stray-cats-in-bay-area/544160 "2010-06-22T20:43:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-stray-cats-in-bay-area/544160/1 "2010-06-22T20:43:32Z")
My friend told me today that she has a stray with three kittens in her neighborhood. The stray mostly hangs out at her neighbor’s, but they made it clear that they don’t want to keep her and they don’t want to deal with getting rid of her. For some reason, this means it’s my friend’s responsibility, I guess. She contacted Animal Control, who will pick up the cats, but only once their caged. She’s not going to catch and cage the cats herself, and she doesn’t want to just leave them. Does anybody know of any no-kill shelters or rescue organizations in the Bay Area that will cage the cats and take them? Since I’m not a newbie here and I’ve seen these threads before, I’ll just clarify some things right away: 1. She’s not feeding them right now 2. She’s not going to adopt them 3. She’s not going to buy traps to cage them 4. She’s not going to shoot them 5. She’s not going to poison them She is however going on a 3 week vacation starting Friday. So I’d like to get her information/suggestions as quickly as possible. That’s why I’m posting here. ---
**Author:** ![cuberdon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/45deac/32.png) [@cuberdon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuberdon)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-stray-cats-in-bay-area/544160/2 "2010-06-22T20:59:36Z")
You don’t say exactly where, and obviously the SFBA covers a lot of territory. However the SF SPCA has a trap-neuter-return program. See the last question at the bottom of this page. There may be other organizations locally that also offer this program. [http://www.sfspca.org/programs-services/feral-fix](http://www.sfspca.org/programs-services/feral-fix) ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-stray-cats-in-bay-area/544160/3 "2010-06-22T21:14:24Z")
Sorry, she’s in the east bay area, in Contra Costa county. And thanks for the link! ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-stray-cats-in-bay-area/544160/4 "2010-06-22T23:20:22Z")
I’m not sure if they’ll come out and trap them for you but “Fix Our Ferals” is one East Bay no-kill option for controlling ferals. They neuter and then return the animals (otherwise, as they point out, a new set of ferals will just move into the abandoned territory). [http://fixourferals.org/home/](http://fixourferals.org/home/) ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-stray-cats-in-bay-area/544160/5 "2010-06-22T23:34:42Z")
I went through this rigamarole recently and I’m afraid in the East Bay she may not find what she is looking for. Shelters have territories and city/county animal control from, say, Berkeley won’t take animals from Contra Costa. In Contra Costa she could check with animal control in [Martinez or Pinole](http://www.co.contra-costa.ca.us/index.aspx?NID=853), but they are definitely not no-kill ( though kittens have a fair chance of adoption, so I’m told ). [Fix Our Ferals](http://fixourferals.org/home/) is in the East Bay, but I’m afraid they are a Trap-Neuter-Release advocacy group and I believe they typically loan traps ( with a deposit ), rather than trap them for you. Further they don’t take them off you hands. [East Bay/Tri-Valley SPCA](http://www.eastbayspca.org/Page.aspx?pid=465#7) will take stray kittens that are socializable by appointment and for a fee - but I believe, again, you generally have to trap them yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-stray-cats-in-bay-area/544160/6 "2010-06-23T03:48:46Z")
She doesn’t have to buy traps. Most shelters and feral fix 'n release programs will loan her the traps for a nominal fee. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-stray-cats-in-bay-area/544160/7 "2010-06-23T16:59:45Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > 1. She’s not feeding them right now > 2. She’s not going to adopt them > 3. She’s not going to buy traps to cage them > 4. She’s not going to shoot them > 5. She’s not going to poison them > > She is however going on a 3 week vacation starting Friday. With all of these qualifications as to the amount of effort she’s willing to go for these kitties…why doesn’t she just go on her vacation and let the neighborhood deal with it while she’s gone? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-stray-cats-in-bay-area/544160/8 "2010-06-23T17:11:39Z")
Wait… she has just four strays in her entire _neighborhood_? Wow. I probably have several dozen in my block alone. Of course, referring to them as “strays” would be a misnomer - the last time anyone ever domesticated any of these cats was probably before the Crusades. They’re my neighborhood’s natural predators, not to mention lords and masters; I should be asking their permission to live here, not the other way around. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-stray-cats-in-bay-area/544160/9 "2010-06-23T17:53:39Z")
A while ago, in Santa Clara county, we tried to do the same thing with some feral cats living outside our apartment building at the time. Down here, no one will come fix the problem for you – the best you can do is rent the traps, and then either take the cats to a shelter (which will evaluate whether or not they can be socialized and either put them up for adoption or euthanize them) or get them neutered and put them back. I think a lot of vets will do the neutering for greatly reduced or no cost, which might make things more convenient. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-stray-cats-in-bay-area/544160/10 "2010-06-24T08:22:21Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Wait… she has just four strays in her entire _neighborhood_? Wow. I probably have several dozen in my block alone. Of course, referring to them as “strays” would be a misnomer - the last time anyone ever domesticated any of these cats was probably before the Crusades. They’re my neighborhood’s natural predators, not to mention lords and masters; I should be asking their permission to live here, not the other way around. We also have a large stray cat population around my neighborhood. We also have at least one possum and one armadillo. I can tell that we have a lot of stray cats because I can tell cats apart. However, unless a possum or dillo is right next to another possum/dillo, I usually can’t tell individuals of those species apart. Actually, I’m not even sure that all the cats are stray. I think that at least some are outside pet cats, or inside outside pet cats. Most of my neighbors are Mexican or of very recent Mexican descent (first or second generation Mexican American), and apparently Mexicans consider it to be cruel to keep cats indoors all the time. So it’s partially a cultural difference. I do know that I’ll see a particular cat roaming around the neighborhood for a few weeks or months, and then I never see it again. Did it get adopted? Did it get run over, or otherwise killed? I’ll never know in most cases. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-stray-cats-in-bay-area/544160/11 "2010-06-24T08:42:43Z")
The way I see it, street cats are not so much domesticated animals, as a form of life uniquely adopted to the urban environment that on occasion forms a symbiotic relationship with humans. I know for a fact that my city has roughly ten street cats for every “domesticated” cat, and the local population seems to be flourishing. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-stray-cats-in-bay-area/544160/12 "2010-06-24T17:29:41Z")
Try [Community Concern for Cats](http://www.communityconcernforcats.org/). ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-stray-cats-in-bay-area/544160/13 "2010-06-24T18:25:12Z")
> [@Wilbo523](#): > > With all of these qualifications as to the amount of effort she’s willing to go for these kitties…why doesn’t she just go on her vacation and let the neighborhood deal with it while she’s gone? That is what I have said to her a million times. Last night she said that the “neighbors didn’t like them” when I asked why she even cared (this was after she told me she will need to go trap them herself. Like she’s ever going to be able to catch 3 wild kittens). So I suggested the neighbors should get some humane traps and deal with it themselves or the neighbors could STFU until they get back from their vacation. I mean, seriously, I’ve asked about this multiple times and I still don’t understand why a momma cat with 3 kittens is so bothersome or why it’s _her_ responsibility. I’ve been to her neighborhood. It’s a nice, cookie-cutter, boring, planned community in the east bay. Some cats will at least add a bit of life and color to the otherwise dead, cookie-cutter streets. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-stray-cats-in-bay-area/544160/14 "2010-06-24T18:27:55Z")
Strut right by with your tail in the air.