Local animal lovers’ commitment to caring for Asheville’s feral cat colonies
By Karen Wynne
Click here for updates on this story
ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — Feeding and watering feral cats is a daily ritual for Eric Phelps, of Sister Kitten Animal Rescue.
“Always been a cat guy, had cats my whole life but didn’t know anything about those cats that lived outside,” Phelps said.
Several years ago, some friends alerted Phelps to the feral cat population.
“It was just something that struck a chord with me, and I just wanted to start helping as many of them as we could,” Phelps said.
News 13 caught up with Phelps and volunteer Leigh Anne Ray at a feral cat colony in the River Arts District. Phelps said it’s one of about 10 colonies in Asheville, making for a total of 40-50 cats the group feeds.
But we only saw a few at this meeting, a black and white cat named Oscar, later joined by Roxy and Gracie.
“I wish we had a camera on them all the time, wondering who’s coming at night that we never see during the day,” Ray said as she watched two of the cats eat.
“They are absolutely no different. They don’t have any different needs than the cats that you have at home,” Phelps said. “They’re exactly the same animal. It’s just that these guys are unsocialized to people and they’re terrified of people.”
Sister Kitten traps as many ferals as possible and gets them spayed or neutered. The friendlier cats are fostered and adopted. But, for many, it’s back to the colony.
With some of the coldest winter weather on the way, there’s an extra challenge of providing warm shelters.
“You don’t want to use things like towels or sheets or blankets,” Phelps said. “You want to specifically use straw. Straw is pretty universal for animals living outside.”
“These cats aren’t different than your cats inside, and they deserve just as much love and care,” Ray said.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
