It is a staggering idea. That there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of stray cats calling Forest Park home. These aren’t lost cats which have wandered off from loving homes. These are feral, or wild, cats who live and die in small colonies finding shelter under porches, in garages, back in bushes. And during their lifetimes they also regularly reproduce, creating litters of new kittens.
This has been a largely invisible issue. The cats aren’t a particular bother. They aren’t spreading disease or messing with people. But by the simple, exponential nature of the numbers it is a problem that a small grassroots organization has risen to address.
C.A.T.S. for Forest Park has won a $10,000 grant from the Animal Care League, based in Oak Park, to trap up to 300 local feral cats and to bring them in to be spade and neutered. The cats are then released back into the village to live their lives without creating new lives.
We always admire such nonprofit, humane projects. These volunteers have seen a problem and they are working a solution.
