Mayor helps save homeless cats in Queens

Mayor Michael Bloomberg today granted permission for SaveKitty, a Queens-based nonprofit organization that rescues homeless and feral cats, to remove any cats that may be stuck inside sealed crawl spaces at the Ravenswood housing complex in Astoria, Queens.

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) development consists of 31 buildings that are home to approximately 4,500 people--and until recently, over 500 cats and kittens that roamed the grounds. Earlier this year NYCHA determined that the cats needed to be permanently removed from the property. SaveKitty stepped forward and offered a trap, neuter, and return (TNR) solution instead.

Proponents of TNR believe that neutering an existing colony of homeless and/or feral cats is the most effective way to manage a population of cats living outdoors. The population stabilizes and eventually gets smaller. Studies have shown that when an entire cat colony is removed from an outdoor environment, other cats soon arrive to fill the “opening.” In addition, the presence of cats in an apartment complex on the scale of Ravenswood, is thought to help control the rodent population.

 After months of discussions, NYCHA rejected the proposed TNR solution and in mid-August had hired contractors to begin work on closing the crawl spaces the cats use for shelter. SaveKitty sprang into action, working quickly to remove cats and kittens from the crawl spaces. However, despite their efforts, numerous cats were sealed inside the spaces, with no way out and no access to food or water. 

While NYCHA reportedly initially denied that any cats had been trapped, Debi Romano, the President of SaveKitty, rescued a few cats each day. Now that Mayor Bloomberg has authorized SaveKitty’s efforts, the work should proceed at a quicker pace and as many cats as possible will be removed before the next heat wave makes the already hot spaces even hotter.