Work, Private Property And Kittens

[kittylove14]

well i am back at it again with woodland kittens! there are three kittens and possibly mom in woods behind a shed. problem is it is not only private property but it is my work property my livelihood. does anyone understand regulations on this?

the sad part is my work is near our local animal shelter. about two doors down. so a lot of cat dumps end up in the back of my work. i’ve only seen two rounds of cats this being the second and i’ve only been there a year.

i have not caught any cats myself. my own cats were caught by one who is now a dear friend but it’s hard to get her involved.

many people know of the cats, one is feeding them i found and has forged a path and left buckets. when i got there there was no food but filthy water in the plastic tubs. i brought new bowls and did two rounds of food and water. i keep water in my car will load car up with food and extra bowls.

i am not sure what to do next. plan was to be covert. big wigs know about the other girl feeding them and make fun of the girl who feeds them. but she feeds in secret i’m guessing at 4pm when evening security guard is on bc he knows about her and sees her go back there. he’s a good guy. camera reach to just by where i park my car and my car does block the view to shed now although you could tell someone would be walking around my car.

any advice appreciated. i have a plethora of cat beds carriers and crates.

 

[shadowsrescue]

I would ask the local animal shelter for help. If they are so close, they should want to help you out. If nothing else, the cats need to be spayed/neutered or there will just be tons and tons of cats.

I would ask for help and then go from there.

Thank you for wanting to help these kitties.

 

[Jcatbird]

You just got great advice from@shadowrescue. I might add that You can check your county laws. There may be something there that will protect the cats and anyone helping them as well. It depends on where you live. There are very specific rules laid out in many places for both public and private property. You can find this out online by going to your county website. If the laws are restrictive you still have the rules of your local animal control or shelter. Is it a no kill shelter? There are also many rescue groups that might be able to help. Local and national. I don’t know if you risk your job to help the cats but it would be great if they could be rescued for spay/neutering and adoption. Feeding them is great but what about shelter and what if they multiply? If the company you work for objects to the cats being there then an appeal could be made to rescue and remove. I sure hope you can save them. I am glad you have cats that were caught by someone. Great to hear! Since you are seeing a lot of cats dumped there you might want to network with the others around there who seem to be helping the cats ,as well as some rescue and adoption groups. A few dumped cats can easily become a feral colony. TNR would be a great start. There are many groups that will assist with that and funding is available to some extent in most areas through grants or national programs. Please keep posting. I would like to follow your story. Good luck and thank you for caring!

 

[fionasmom]

I agree that trying to see if anyone that you do not know of is feeding or helping as well is a good idea. There may be some strength in numbers. If you do find that regulations do not allow even animal control onto private property unless there is an emergency, and you would be surprised what is not considered an emergency, then it might help to make it clear to the owners what is going to happen once there are a ton of cats back there...and at that point they are not all going to be caught no matter what anyone does.

 

[kittylove14]

Hi guys I have an update. Didn’t see the cats for a bit but did feed - they eventually ate more at night. then I roamed around the property and found a LOT of things- buckets weird shelters one had a tarp on it. I say weird bc I didn’t see a hole in any of them that would fit a kitty. they seem quite old and all the blankets/towels used are dirty/hard. so obviously someone or some people have been attempting something there.
Then as I left i circled around to the bowls and saw two of my kittens scurry away from the food. Yay!

so I need a plan, here’s a tentative one. continue feeding in the more exposed human interaction area. plant a crate by the food. line with blankets or with the blankets that were out there for the scent. then move food to the crate. assess readiness- observe feeds, talk to them, attempt to interact and earn trust. then when I get used to their patterns and they are catchable, try the string on crate door method.

thoughts?

 

[catsknowme]

You are making excellent progress in your groundwork! I would keep a small notebook for field notes that include all that you have observed as well as a census of the cats, including description & times and weather when they are/were observed. The biggest issue (after neutering arrangements) would be about post-spay/neuter: are they to be released back onto the property or relocated/rehomed? The previous advice on checking with the shelter first is an excellent one and then you can decide on what is best for the cats. Thank you for keeping us updated!
Prayers and vibes for successful efforts in all areas

 

[kittylove14]

As I suspected, the shelter was less than helpful. they wanted to be sure i knew that they -and other shelters- were max capacity and would not be taking cats. they also do not have traps to lend. It is a dead end. I did reach out a while back to a further out shelter: same thing. basically do it yourself, get trap yourself, get a home. no real ins and outs of capture. they’re not interested and have their own set of problems.

I could not make the crate drop yesterday, but i did stop by with food. I might be able to sneak out for an hour tonight when my husband gets home and the nice security guard is on. a coworker might see me tho -as she is on and always looks at the parking lot cameras (why..)
but i’ll see what I can do. I’m set up to house in my garage with a playpen until flea treated. then i can move them to my spare room until either the pet store takes them or they are fixed and wellness checked. i don’t know where i’m going to get the money but God is good and he will provide. I can always pickup time at work. Maybe these kittens will make my mental health better. I hope it doesn’t stress me further. will have to watch that.

 

[catsknowme]

You are EXCELLENT at logistics!! Have you asked your feral cat rescue groups if they have a "trap depot" that loans out traps for a refundable deposit? I love your faith and will be lifting your cause up in prayers
Alley Cat Allies has some great educational videos on cat trapping & when you get to that stage, we can push for more feedback from our awesome fellow TCSers. Right now, some of my main "go to" people are preparing for Hurricane Florence who seems intent on focusing on the Carolinas and possibly flooding WV, too.

 

[kittylove14]

You are EXCELLENT at logistics!! Have you asked your feral cat rescue groups if they have a "trap depot" that loans out traps for a refundable deposit? I love your faith and will be lifting your cause up in prayers
Alley Cat Allies has some great educational videos on cat trapping & when you get to that stage, we can push for more feedback from our awesome fellow TCSers. Right now, some of my main "go to" people are preparing for Hurricane Florence who seems intent on focusing on the Carolinas and possibly flooding WV, too.

yes everyone here has always been so helpful thank you for the support!

 

[1 bruce 1]

Where are you located, generally?
Rhetorically, I might add, as if you're in or around a rural area here are working barn cat programs (they hunt and kill mice and rats that are causing problems in barns) that are usually happy to have older kittens/young adults that are wise to the ways of getting their own meals.
You might reach out to ranchers or farmers in your area.
Our barn cat population is getting older and we're kind of watching for that age group with the background of "hunt'n'kill" mode to keep the population down.
Unfortunately, humane societies frown on this and think the only happy cat is a house cat that's obese and inactive, and any cat granted outdoors is a statistic and won't deal with ranches that are many miles off road.

 

[kittylove14]

UPDATE i have spoken with the lady who returned to work who had been feeding. she said she and her husband have traps and have trapped there before and would be willing to help. BUT it has always been undercover. NOW landscapers have been out and moved my dishes as i have been away and the dishes and feeding came to light
to our clinical supervisor. I plan on speaking with her when i return about the retraction effort. I feel nervous about even feeding them let alone coming in off hours to the traps. I have a feeling work will say no if it’s overt. i’ve never felt this way before so uncomfortable. This job is my livelihood. Any suggestions on an approach? and I love cats but i don’t want to get stuck with three more so I really do need to go physically down to our pet store and ask. otherwise they’re a kill shelter surrender as I really don’t have the funds or the time with a baby to get them fixed up as i have in the past.

 

[kittylove14]

Where are you located, generally?
Rhetorically, I might add, as if you're in or around a rural area here are working barn cat programs (they hunt and kill mice and rats that are causing problems in barns) that are usually happy to have older kittens/young adults that are wise to the ways of getting their own meals.
You might reach out to ranchers or farmers in your area.
Our barn cat population is getting older and we're kind of watching for that age group with the background of "hunt'n'kill" mode to keep the population down.
Unfortunately, humane societies frown on this and think the only happy cat is a house cat that's obese and inactive, and any cat granted outdoors is a statistic and won't deal with ranches that are many miles off road.

I don’t be believe an actual program but i have heard privately of farmers accepting barn cats. TNR could be an option however I feel an actual home as kittens would be ideal even as indoor-outdoor.

 

[1 bruce 1]

I don’t be believe an actual program but i have heard privately of farmers accepting barn cats. TNR could be an option however I feel an actual home as kittens would be ideal even as indoor-outdoor.

Do you know farmers in your area? If so, contact them.
Most farmers love kittens, but feel safer with "farm raised" kittens that are half grown (6-8 months, used to farm life and living outside) because they're farm wise enough to know to stay away from trucks, machines like tillers, tractors, and away from animals like horses, pigs, and others that might not take kindly to an 8-12 week old kitten.
We haven't had a litter here in many years (we did TNR and rehomed/housed many) but anytime we had a litter running around the barns under about 8 months I was a nervous wreck. They were underfoot, they didn't realize that big machines were dangerous and treat angry farm animals that could crush them easily like a joke. Kinda scary, but it can be done if the farmer is a cat lover (most are, if you can get past that old goat exterior) and they have a safe place to keep the kittens during harvest time, or driving stock, etc.
If the farmer has a young daughter (usually under the age of 13), she can wear her parents down like a rock when it comes to wanting a kitten, so if so...use this to your advantage
Hope things are well and the kittens are, too.

 

[kittylove14]

To update: I did suspend my involvement due to needing to protect my only income. but I did employ help. my secretary came and trapped with the lady and her husband and she ended up adopting them out through a local agency. I gave her my biggest crate for use and it turns out she’s continuing to foster with the agency. she has a big and now we continue to talk about my 9 and her fosters. I did see some kittens last summer and also some baby foxes. I haven’t seen them recently however I did see the lady who feeds go out at that time so I’m sure she knew about the new ones. I wish there was more i could do but for now that’s it.

 

[catsknowme]

Thank you for the good update! Your experiences remind me that "a door closes, a window opens". I am very happy to read that your secretary and the other couple have stepped up to help. Bravo!