Photos of feral cats cared for by The Nobody’s Cats Foundation
Nearly every day for the last nine years, Christine Arnold, the founder and managing director of The Nobody’s Cats Foundation, visits a cat colony that lives in a local wooded area.
She fills their feeder with a large bag of kibble, plates a few cans of wet food, and rinses and refills drinking bins with six gallons of water.
Often, a few furry and familiar faces make an appearance, glancing at Arnold from a distance before satisfying their empty stomachs. The oldest of the bunch is nearing 9 years old—from the colony’s original litter—while the youngest, now 4 years old, was the last kitten born into the colony.
“This particular area was a horrible dumping ground for as long as I can remember,” Arnold said. “But thankfully, we’ve had far fewer abandoned animals in recent years, and through our commitment to spaying and neutering the population, we’ve successfully decreased the number of cats from more than 50 to around 20. And we’ll keep working our way down to, hopefully, zero one day.”
The Nobody’s Cats Foundation, located in Camp Hill, helps prevent the suffering of free-roaming domestic feline populations in south-central PA through its high-volume “Trap Neuter Release” (TNR) strategy.
“By spaying just one female cat, you’re potentially preventing 12 to 18 kittens from being unnecessarily born in a year,” Arnold said. “Of the 45,000 or so cats we’ve spayed or neutered since opening the clinic 10 years ago, around 25,000 of those are female, and that totals thousands and thousands of kittens who would otherwise be born into a difficult free-roaming life if it weren’t for TNR.”
Their goal for 2023 is to perform 6,000 spay and neuter surgeries on feral and stray cats. As one might imagine, the costs to cover this wide-reaching impact add up, and it’s the dedicated hands and hearts of volunteers behind the scenes and community partners like the Spay Neuter Assistance Program (SNAP) that are the funding forces.
“SNAP partners with other providers, including The Nobody’s Cats Foundation, to subsidize the cost of spays and neuters for both cats and dogs, to ensure the cause has continued funding,” said SNAP’s President Essie Petrovich. “We also offer significantly reduced spay and neuter surgery prices to pet owners, thanks to the generosity of several local veterinary clinics.”
Through the TNR process, cats get a second chance—living healthier and oftentimes longer lives than they otherwise would have. And as docile cats that were once someone’s house pet and newborn kittens are found roaming busy streets or seeking shelter in neighborhood yards, they’re not only neutered and spayed but they’re connected with rescues like Lemoyne-based Loving Care Cat Rescue that help them find homes.
“If we don’t take those kittens, in five weeks we have a much less chance of socializing them, and they are essentially committed to being outside for the rest of their lives,” said Lisa Snyder, who founded Loving Care Cat Rescue in 2013. “But if we take them in and spend eight to 10 weeks with them, their lives could be entirely different. What are eight weeks compared to possibly 18 years of life?”
Currently fostering 19 cats, 15 of which are kittens, Snyder chooses the latter as frequently as she can. While she understands that fostering this many animals is not something everyone is capable of, she believes everyone can do something—whether it be fostering one, spaying or neutering your pets, donating time or funds to a local rescue, or learning how to TNR.
“I believe that it’s our job as humans to help take care of these animals who can’t take care of themselves—to show compassion to all living things,” Snyder added. “Together, we are all a part of the solution.”
To learn more about The Nobody’s Cats Foundation, Spay Neuter Assistance Program or Loving Care Cat Rescue, visit their websites or find them on Facebook.
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