I apologize in advance for this lengthy post, but I want to give as much detail as I can. My neighbor, who is also my relative, has so many cats and kittens that it has gotten out of control. There is at LEAST 20, and I am 100% sure there's more. From what I understand, she has tried getting them fixed, but she can't seem to keep up. I did notice food spread throughout the area on the ground, so I'm assuming they do have a steady food source, but I always see them running around the road and almost getting hit by cars. We live in the country, so there's not A LOT of traffic, but people usually fly when driving by. A few of them have even come to stay at my barn, especially when winter begins, so they can curl up in the hay to try to get out of the cold, which isn't a big deal because we have no problem with them just needing some shelter, and we'll even leave out some food for them. All of that doesn't seem like a huge deal, but my concerns grew after an incident yesterday. We had our first truly cold day of the so far mild Autumn where temperatures dropped below freezing at their coldest during the night, and winds were pretty high. It was shortly before dusk when I was on my porch and heard a cat meowing frantically by the road. Now, a cat has to be pretty loud for me to hear it from my house considering it was around 300-400 feet away. (Or at least I've never been able to hear any normal cat meows from my porch if they were in the same area.) I ran down concerned it was one of my indoor/outdoor cats and found a kitten, probably about 8 weeks old or a little more, sitting in the middle of the road. It initially ran away from me into the wooded area along the road but kept answering when I would meow back at it, and after roughly 45 minutes of me walking a little away, going back, talking to it, etc., I was finally able to pick it up. It was really shivering but still started to purr when I wrapped my arms around it to block the wind and warm it up. I walked it to my neighbor's house, and that's when the reality of exactly how many cats and kittens she had and what kind of lifestyle they had hit me. There were cats everywhere, but it seemed like the only shelter they had was under a broken down car parked in front of a garage. Under and around the car, there were mostly kittens, (at least 10) and some looked as young as 4-5 weeks. I saw one bed for them, but it was next to the car completely exposed to all weather conditions. I told them about what had happened to the kitten and how it was shivering and scared, but I know it was just left with the others outside. The kitten was probably just following one of the older cats, got lost and then was too frightened and cold to find it's way home, but all I can think about is all those kitties, especially the young ones, outside in this weather when it's only the middle of October, and its only going to get worse. Eventually, it's going to snow and remain at freezing temperatures for weeks, if not months, and these babies are just stuck in it. I can't even imagine the ones that are all alone, like that one, lost in the woods not only in the cold but also with so many coyotes and other predators around. Is there something I can do? Is there anywhere where I can leave an anonymous tip? I don't want to cause any problems within my family, but if there is enough cause to have them taken away and brought somewhere safe and warm, I'd like to try to help them. I know there are animals out there that have it worse, but there has to be a way to help the poor things before they freeze or are attacked or who knows what else. It breaks my heart thinking about them.
By the way, I'm in Northeast Pennsylvania near Scranton if that helps with any ideas on who to contact, and a lot of the cats walked up to me, so I think they'd do fine if they were adopted.
By the way, I'm in Northeast Pennsylvania near Scranton if that helps with any ideas on who to contact, and a lot of the cats walked up to me, so I think they'd do fine if they were adopted.
