As many as 100 feral and homeless domestic cats in the Riverside area are getting some much-needed help this Thursday. But more volunteers are needed, said Panther City Feral Cat Coalition president Iris Porta.
The animals were the unfortunate victims of a mass eviction at Parkview Village Apartments (“Abandoned,” Nov. 5, 2014 ).
Beginning Thursday morning, staff and volunteers from her group will place dozens of animal-friendly traps around the Parkview Village Apartments area.
“We need [volunteers] to come watch the traps and set them out,” Porta said. “Volunteers don’t need any previous experience. Once they see a trapped cat, we need folks to help move them to a designated area. We will bring the cats to a place that has heat, probably a garage, where they will stay overnight [before Texas Coalition for Animal Protection] collects them Friday.”
Porta said anyone interested in lending a hand can contact her directly at iporta464@gmail.com for more information.
Texas Coalition for Animal Protection and Fort Worth Animal Care Control have offered to sterilize and vaccinate the cats for free. After the animals recover, they will be brought to Humane Society of North Texas and evaluated. Truly untamed cats will be marked with an ear clip and returned to their home area. The clipping identifies the cat as sterilized and vaccinated, allowing city animal control to properly identify them. Domesticated cats that were abandoned during the eviction will be placed in a Humane Society adoption program.
Porta said the recent evictions and pet abandonments highlight the importance of the work animal rescue groups do. But more support is needed from the community. PantherCity Feral Cat Coalition has an ongoing need for storage space for traps and volunteers willing to do a range of light work, for example.
“It’s going to be a big job to capture all these cats in one day,” she said. “We need more people to get active in this cause.”
