Q: We live on the first and second floors of a brownstone in East Harlem and love the backyard. Two doors down, a neighbor in the second-floor apartment placed a litter box on the fire escape outside his window so that the community cats could find shelter there. The neighbor also provides food for them. In the morning there are usually half a dozen adult cats cavorting in the box and on the stairs. It is inevitable that they will roam, pee, poop and fight in our backyard. The smell in summer is terrible. This year alone we gave birth to two female cats in our backyard. The kittens are cute, their cries not so much. What can we do?
A: Unfortunately, there are no easy solutions to this problem. There are many free-roaming cats in New York City, which can be a headache for neighbors as they deal with the noise, smell, and litter that comes with it.
In addition to being a nuisance to humans, cats roaming freely can harm bird populations and other wildlife, and the question of how to humanely deal with them is confusing.
Your neighbor isn't committing a crime by feeding stray cats, but they could be in violation if the trash isn't disposed of. You can submit a service request regarding animal waste on private property to the City Health Department.
The city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reminds people who feed free-roaming cats to do so in a controlled manner, remove the food after a limited time to avoid attracting other animals, and clean up animal waste. Food should be put away before the evening and no food should be left out overnight.
Several local organizations neuter unowned cats and return them to their community, a process known as “trap-neuter-return.” Cats that have been repaired tend not to engage in fights or excessive vocalizations, and males no longer have odorous urine used to mark territory.
The cat organizations that work with the city also answer questions from people who are struggling with the same problems as you. You can contact Bideawee's Feral Cat Initiative here or Neighborhood Cats here.
“I like to say there's a reason we spay or neuter our pet cats, because otherwise it would be impossible to live with them,” said Bryan Kortis, national program director at Manhattan-based Neighborhood Cats. “The same goes for cats that live outside.”
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