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Cats take up residence outside South Station

By adamg on Fri, 03/29/2013 - 12:49pm

South Station kittehs

Meghan M. spotted a pair of cats by the South Station tracks today, wonders "Why are there a bunch of homeless cats hanging around the tracks?"

Earlier:
Remember Kenmore the Kitten?

Neighborhoods: 
Downtown
Topics: 
The T
Free tagging: 
Cats
South Station
Commuter rail
Pets


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Comments

By anon on Fri, 03/29/2013 - 1:01pm.

They have been around for years, you can see them on the way out on the commuter trains. Someone leaves food out for them.

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By anon on Fri, 03/29/2013 - 4:42pm.

Some cat groupings are managed via trap-neuter-release programs. Cats are fed and sick cats are helped, and newcomers are assessed (human friendly ones are adopted, ferals are fixed and released).

Disney manages feral colonies at their theme parks and resorts. Much more cost-effective and tidy rodent control than putting out poison or traps.

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By anon on Fri, 03/29/2013 - 1:14pm.

food and shelter provided by Commuter Rail employees. There are about 10 cats, they have their own community per say. This morning they were all out sunbathing. My only concern is if someone notifies the MSPCA and they decide to catch them eventually they will be euthanize.

LET THEM BE!

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By anon on Fri, 03/29/2013 - 1:28pm.

Her tweet included @MspcaAngell

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By anon on Fri, 03/29/2013 - 2:55pm.

does not equal Meowchowitz.

MSPCA isn't a no-kill because they reserve the right to euthanize animals suffering from incurable illnesses and injuries, as well as animals who are aggressive, violent, or a danger to others.

They don't sit around going, "Mwahahahaha more kitties to kill mwahahaha!"

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By anon on Fri, 03/29/2013 - 4:32pm.

These are stray cats who don't interact with humans. They are all adults and probably wouldn't make great pets. If the MSPCA took them in they would not be adoptable pet due to their behavior. It's a shelter not a senior center for strays. Eventually they would be put under. I know the MSPCA is a No-Kill shelter, but that doesn't stop them from transferring the cat to a shelter that will kill them.

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By Billy on Sat, 03/30/2013 - 8:34am.

Saying "isn't a no kill" shelter is just confusing. They have only some much space, and will manage that by putting cats down.
The reason there are stray cats is that people are assholes. They don't fix their cats. They let their cats out. They leave their cats when they move. They drive to the other side of town, and leave their cat. ...
I was wondering if it would catch any ones attention by posting photos of all the cats which are put to death.

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By crcala on Sat, 03/30/2013 - 12:14pm.

If they are feral cats (which they probably are) all that MSPCA would maybe do is trap-neuter-release (or TNR) where feral cats are neutered/spayed (for free by MSPCA!) and released back to their home environments. MSPCA staff know feral cats are not adoptable and would not take in cats that can't be adopted just to euthanize them. (Also, good luck trying to take a feral cat anywhere, they are super distrustful of humans, so without a specific trap cage I don't know how you would even get them in a car).

I volunteer for MSPCA and they do all they can for the animals in their care. Euthanizing is a last resort after all other options are exhausted, and is usually done for medical rather than space reasons.

No-kill shelters are great, but please know that they are "no-kill" because they will not take in animals once they reach a certain threshold of animals. That means turning away owners surrendering their pets, which means owners may release the animals somewhere unsafe, such as by highways, streets, etc because they don't know where to take them. This is much more dangerous for these animals, which is why MSPCA doesn't turn animals away.

Unfortunately there has been a rise in the amount of animal surrenders all over due to the economy--people may not be able to afford their pets anymore if you lose your house your new apt may not allow cats or dogs.

So, if you want to prevent homeless cats and dogs 1) spay and neuter your pets (and support TNR programs for feral cats/dogs) and 2) advocate for pet-friendly housing.

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By anon on Fri, 03/29/2013 - 2:53pm.

Mittens and Whiskers C. spotted a human near the South Station tracks, wondering, "Why the heck are you taking our picture?"

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By above and anon on Sun, 03/31/2013 - 4:22pm.

both know about this feral colony per the head of Charles River Alleycats, Kit Lilly. CRA worked with the T employees to trap, spay/neuter and return them several years ago. You could do worse than to send a few $$ their way as they use those funds for the vet care and to fund people to feed the various colonies in and around Boston. They are keeping stats, and it appears that in areas where colonies have been trapped, vetted and released, the surrender and stray numbers are going down, down, down!

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By anon on Fri, 03/29/2013 - 1:15pm.

Why, to eat the mice that lived there before them. How's that for gentrification?

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By Swirlygrrl at Work on Fri, 03/29/2013 - 1:17pm.

"Why are there a bunch of homeless cats hanging around the tracks?"

A lot of humans move around in this space. Some of those humans carry food items and put them in trash cans or on the ground.

Food items attract tasty rodents and delicious birds.

This is an age old human and cat story.

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By Lecil on Fri, 03/29/2013 - 1:21pm.

At least in this picture those two cats look well fed...Maybe they're just doing a good job at keeping the rodent population down!

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By Michael on Fri, 03/29/2013 - 3:05pm.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm very sorry but I need everyone's attention for just one moment, my special lady feline had six kittens the other day and I need to get money so I can buy them milk and tuna-flavored treats and also we need to get spayed and neutered so this doesn't happen anymore but the vet that will do it is in New Bedford and we need $11.73 for the bus fare and $4.50 for a CAT scan. I hate to ask you nice people but I'm desperate. Thank you. Please help?

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By MassMouse on Fri, 03/29/2013 - 4:59pm.

Okay, this was funny. Thanks for the giggle!

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By Hillary on Fri, 03/29/2013 - 5:16pm.

Congratulations, you win the Internet!

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By Brian Riccio on Fri, 03/29/2013 - 4:24pm.

There's about 6 cats that live in the back of the pool near the airport blast wall. Some very nice people built them a little shelter and some of the drivers feed them, despite the signs Massport put up saying not to.

As the earlier commenter noted, on sunny days they like to sit on top of the shelter to catch some rays. They're very nice cats.

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By MassMouse on Fri, 03/29/2013 - 4:58pm.

I work right around the corner on Essex... they must hang out near the buildings/sheds adjacent to Track 1...

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By Andrew on Fri, 03/29/2013 - 7:19pm.

You will also notice there are mice and other vermin around the tracks, thanks to the garbage humans leave. Thank goodness for the cats. They keep it under control. They wouldn't be there if there wasn't something to eat.

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By Billy on Sat, 03/30/2013 - 8:36am.

Cats are domesticated. Are you helping by making sure they have access to water, which isn't frozen, in the middle of winter? (One example only)

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By anon on Mon, 07/01/2013 - 6:03pm.

Haven't seen the orange cat recently.

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By Maria on Mon, 09/16/2013 - 5:58pm.

Just saw the two of them together 2 minutes ago on the train home

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By anon on Sat, 07/12/2014 - 11:45am.

There's three of them now :)

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