Cats in the Alley Near 42nd and Dawson

[mehud7]

attn: gregsalmon- Several rescue groups including FCAT, FAF, and Alley Cat Project are aware of the situation with Dave feeding the cats. Neighbors have been contacted by us and we have contacted neighbors. Some have been more helpful than others. We have trapped, for months, ending up with only a few cats. We have been there late at night and early in the morning. FCAT and FAF have yet to be able to reach Dave. Alley Cat Project has worked with him in the past but cannot reach him now. We understand he may have some mental health issues so being hostile and argumentative is not going to help. So gregsalmon and other concerned neighbors, these cats cannot be helped without coordination and effort put forth by all–complaining and repeatedly posting on every thread possible does nothing to help the situation. Let’s work together on this.

FCAT (206) 427-6454 feraltrapping@gmail.com

FAF (206) 719-4864 info@fafseattle.org

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[gregsalmon]

Yes, seems there is little to be done. No easy answer on this one for sure. I am not aware of anybody being hostile or argumentative except Dave. Right now all that is going on is continued feeding of the cats, creating more cats.

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[hammerhead]

Actually there is a lot that can be done.

People just have to step and DO IT.

I have gotten 2 phone calls from people who live in the apartments behind you. I have asked these people, who know where the cats and kittens and soon to be more kittens sleep, and YET they refuse to watch a cat trap. SO they are the ones to blame. FCAT or FAF can not sit and watch traps.

So whether this guy feeds or not something can be done. Talk to the people in the apartment complex, see if you all can get together and do something.

Also Seattle animal control has been called and no they won’t do anything about it, they tell you to call me.

Again this not the cats fault it is the humans fault.

Feral cats fair much better when it comes to coyotes believe it or not. I would be more worried about kittens being ran over by a car.

FCAT

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[Dawson Junction]

Why doesn’t gregsalmon volunteer to watch the traps? I’m not trying to call anyone out but just watching these threads it seems like an obvious question. From what I can infer he lives quite near to the situation and is concerned enough to make several post about it. I would think if there are lots of feral cats around at least some of them would find their way to his yard assuming there was some tuna or other bait that they could smell. Or maybe the traps could be set at the apartment complex that you mention and he could watch them by walking over there. I personally know nothing about trapping cats so maybe an explanation of what it entails would be helpful. What are the responsibilities of the person watching the traps? If you catch a feral cat is it going to start making noise and wake up the neighborhood?

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[seaopgal]

Is this the alley between 42nd and California? Not sure since I live near there and walk through the alley frequently but haven’t seen the cats. I might be able to watch traps, but as Dawson Junction suggests it would be helpful to know what is entailed. Is someone purposefully releasing the ones that are caught? Is there active opposition to trapping, or just no one wanting to be the watcher?

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[Dawson Junction]

seaopgal, I do believe that is the alley that is being referenced here. As far as I understand it the trapped cats are evaluated and if it is determined that they can be socialized then they are put up for adoption after they have been spayed/neutered. Otherwise the cats are spayed/neutered then released back to the place where they were trapped. Here is FCAT’s site where I am getting my information. http://www.feraltrapping.com/FCAT/Home.html

I also live near here and though I am aware of the old guy who puts out food in this alley I have not seen large numbers of cats and none that look to me like kittens. Certainly not the hundreds that where mentioned in a different thread but I assume that was hyperbole. I am pretty sure the exact location in question here is that alley between Dawson and Brandon streets with the cats being located closer to the Dawson street side.

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[hammerhead]

Ok I will say it There were 2 people who tried for 2 months to trap in their own yards but not very successful the cats moved to the apartment complexes. Yes between Brandon and Dawson, that is the area.

So no I am sure the would not walk across the alley to watch a trap. Hell if the people who live there won’t, why would I assume he would.

Trapping cats is easy, you set it(I show you everything) check on the trap every hour or so. Call me if a cat is in it, FAF or FCAT will come get. NO the feral cats do not make noises. Ferals don’t meow. Cats meow for humans:)

It really is not that, hard. Just aborted 15 fetus today, so we are in our 2nd term of pregnancies. Sadly the kittens that were seen a month ago are to old to be tamed.

That cat is pregnant again and will pop pretty soon, so more will be born.

FYI little history about this site over 6 years ago there were over 20 cats, It was TNR’d but yet again a human dumped their cat UNALTERED and had kittens.

FCAT

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[Dawson Junction]

Well I walked down this alley this evening and sure enough I saw a pizza box with some cat food on it and a big raccoon eating away. I also saw one of the cats that I suspect is being described as a kitten.

To me it looked full grown in size but not a big cat (that is a picture that I took of it and uploaded as my avatar). I would guess it was at least six months old or so but I don’t know much about cats. Solid black looked sort of skinny but I think most young cats are skinny so it did not look obviously malnourished or mangy or anything. If I had not been looking for feral cats I probably would have assumed it was someones pet.

I made a google map with with all the details related to cats that I have observed in this alley and sent an invite to FCAT to look at and add to the map. I will be happy to send an invite to anyone else who want to give me their email address. My thinking is if we can share information about where we’ve seen the cats and when the old guy comes around and feeds them etc. then maybe this information can help.

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[hammerhead]

Dawson Junction, FCAT and FAF already know what needs to be done, but we just can NOT do it alone.

We know where they hang out in the bushes. The old man only feeds crappy dry food, and really early in the mornings, we use wet food when trapping. We will not be able to stop him from this.

That cat in your avatar will have babies or make babies, even with its siblings, with in the year if not sooner,and as I said in earlier posts the mom is pregnant again.

If ferals are fed they generally look healthy.

You can email what info you have, but can pretty much guarantee no one else will give a rats ass. Which we are used too, hence why we have this problem.

feraltrapping@gmail.com.

Again this all boils down to people stepping up. I don’t want my traps stolen or destroyed or the cats let loose once in a trap or hurt either. Helping watch the traps and making ONE simple phone call, is all it will take.

Thanks for doing something to get more info.

FCAT

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[seaopgal]

Thanks to you both for this info. I will scope out the area tonight and then contact you if it will work for me to watch.

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[Dawson Junction]

FCAT, it appears to me that yes the most likely place that the cats are sleeping are those bushes between two of the apartments buildings. I don’t want to put the specific names of the apartments because I don’t know if the forum rules allow that but you know where I’m talking about.

That area is not very access-able to humans. I also think watching traps back in there during the night might be kind of sketchy because it is not very well lit and it is where the tenants of the apartments park their cars. Since I don’t live in either of those apartments I would be concerned that someone who lives there might think I was car prowling their vehicles if they saw me lurking around back there at night.

I would have thought that you could throw a trap down anywhere in this general area and the cats would come to your trap but based on what you said about other neighbors trying unsuccessfully in their yards I guess this is not true.

There are some spots closer to the alley like where some of the dumpsters are located that would be close to the cats but not close to peoples parked cars. Also what about during the day on a weekend, at least during the day time it is less likely someone will assume you are up to no good. How many traps do you usually have someone watch? And is it necessary to get permission from the building owner or one of the tenants before putting down the traps?

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[hammerhead]

I would never leave my traps unattended near or around dumpsters in an alley. I don’t trust humans as far as I can throw them. I can not be driving back and forth every hour on the hour. The price of gas alone would prevent me from doing that.

Lets just say some one thought the trap was trash OR the old guy walks by and takes my traps and walks away with it. This has already happened, the traps are NOT cheap.

As for permission this is the slippery slope, my experience with landlords is they don’t want the cats around so they don’t want TNR and YET they won’t do anything. Hence some one who lives there just step up and watch a damn trap.

FCAT

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[Dawson Junction]

Ok, well I came home from work a little early today and went over there and looked around again but this time the apartment parking lot was not full so I was able to see back into some spots that I could not see yesterday. And the cats are definitely hanging out back there and I could even see some empty cat food tins that someone (I assume the old guy) stuck back in there.

I know you said the old guy does not give them canned food but I have seen him leaving canned food sometimes with the dry food (yesterday when I cleaned up the mess he left behind it looked like there had been canned food). Though I think often he only leaves dry food. Also the amount of food he leaves seems to vary quite a bit. I’m wondering if there is a pattern to it like at the beginning of the month he leaves more and canned food and then toward the end of the month less and only dry food. This might correspond to how much money he has.

I also talked to a guy who lives in one of the apartment buildings, he is frequently back there by the garages working on cars and stuff. He said that yes he sees a few cats around and he is aware of the old guy sometimes leaving cat food. But it was pretty obvious the guy did not really want to talk to me about it. I think I might have made him uncomfortable. So I did not get as far as asking him if he would be willing to watch traps back in that apartments courtyard parking area.

After looking into the situation it does seem like a combination of factors are really making it difficult. Not that I’m giving up though.

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[hammerhead]

Welcome to my world.

So sadly once again humans to blame(not you). More kittens to be born .

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[hammerhead]

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[hammerhead]

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[hammerhead]

I am going to Highjack the thread a bit to show you what WILL happen in a matter of months.

This site alone has over 30 cats, about 25 are kittens between the ages of 4-12 weeks old.

I snatch and grabbed 11 in 30 minutes alone.

Sadly most that are to old to tame will get fixed and go back, the other well depends on how full the shelter is whether or not they will live or not.

FCAT

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