Approximately 17 cats live within the Riverfront condominium complex in north downtown Miami. Most of these cats were born here (feral cats) well before the construction was completed. A couple were dumped by owners (stray cats). Initially construction workers fed them scraps of food. However, once you feed cats regularly, they become accustomed to it. This can be beneficial or harmful.
Once you begin feeding cats, they must get spayed/neutered. Why? Cats reproduce quickly! One non-sterilized cat can lead to 98-5,000 offspring over the years. This leads to a host of problems. First the fact that more feral cats are populating the neighborhood. Next, they have kittens and often they face dangers. A city is no place for a kitten or even a cat. The litany of dangers and suffering is heartbreaking--getting trapped within construction equipment, kittens getting stuck inside the engine of a car, soaking up car discharge and licking it, inheriting feline AIDS or leukemia and suffering a slow, agonizing death.
That is why it is imperative that all outdoor cat owners or cat caretakers MUST GET THE OUTDOOR CATS SPAYED/NEUTERED. It is apparent that some of these cats used to be someone's indoor cat and dumped into the street. They are too friendly to be born in the wild. All it takes is one irresponsible cat owner and they multiply and are born homeless.
As of late 2009, fifteen of the Riverfront cats are spayed/neutered which leaves two to trap for neutering. It is known that Elvis is a male, and Bobbi is believed to be a male also. They should still get neutered as they also receive rabies vaccinations during the surgery.
On the flip side, regulary feeding leads to happy cats that no longer feed on bugs and insects and rats. They also live more humanely and are less likely to roam the streets searching for food and therefore get struck by a vehicle.
Once the construction workers left the property, one new resident spearheaded the efforts to get all the cats spayed/neutered and feeds them daily. The Riverfront cats are for the most part, healthy, happy and playful. They are like pet cats. Some cats are friendly and feeders can pet them. Others are forever skiddish, but none of them are aggressive with humans and have never attacked a dog or human. They are more scared of us.
If you genuinely love animals and have always wanted to help unfortunate souls, well here is the perfect opportunity where you can see your money and/or time make a direct impact. But I warn you: you will fall in love with these cats--even if you're a noncat person!
To the world, you might be just one person but, to one animal, you are their world.
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