I don't really know how the colony got started... but it's certainly true that some people abandon their cats, or dump them somewhere when they're not cute kittens any more. The colony's location is quite close to a canal & yes, people can be that cruel... Fortunately, the timber yard's owners don't seem to have any problem with the cats living there & I'm sure they keep the rat/mice numbers down in return for a place to sleep that's out of the weather
Yes, we are 'volunteers' & we buy all the cat food without any kind of reimbursement. The organiser of the volunteers knows a sympathetic Vet &, over time, the female cats have been caught, desexed & returned to the colony, so their numbers don't get out of hand. You might ask why they don't try to find homes for them, but have you ever tried to make friends with a stray/street cat? Long-Suffering Partner & I once took home a rescued stray cat & she was just wild... & clawed her way through a wire door & to freedom within 3 days of her arrival. My scratched finger is just a little warning. The saying goes that any cat is only 3 missed meals away from going 'feral' & these cats have all missed more meals than that in their time!!
Makes you wonder about the stories of the 'Lithgow Panther', on the western fringes of Sydney, over the last 100 years or so... How many meals did that big cat miss??
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Yes, we are 'volunteers' & we buy all the cat food without any kind of reimbursement. The organiser of the volunteers knows a sympathetic Vet &, over time, the female cats have been caught, desexed & returned to the colony, so their numbers don't get out of hand. You might ask why they don't try to find homes for them, but have you ever tried to make friends with a stray/street cat? Long-Suffering Partner & I once took home a rescued stray cat & she was just wild... & clawed her way through a wire door & to freedom within 3 days of her arrival. My scratched finger is just a little warning. The saying goes that any cat is only 3 missed meals away from going 'feral' & these cats have all missed more meals than that in their time!!
Makes you wonder about the stories of the 'Lithgow Panther', on the western fringes of Sydney, over the last 100 years or so... How many meals did that big cat miss??