By Dorri Partain
A colony of feral cats roaming the alleys of the Pendleton Heights neighborhood has brought a group of neighbors and cat lovers together to care for them – feeding, creating shelter, and finding new homes.
Daniella Ramirez, a college student at Avila University, has three cats of her own and a busy schedule with a double major in psychology and criminology, but began feeding the colony of cats last August. As she arrives, the cats rush to greet her.
Out of her tote bag she unloads bowls, a container of fresh water, two containers of dry food, and six cans of wet food. This will feed approximately 14 cats. She feeds them morning or afternoon, depending on which shift she takes – the process is repeated twice a day.
“It might sound silly, but I like to give them all names,” Ramirez said.
She reaches out to those that will let her pet them while a neighbor, Sang, drives up and carefully parks his car in the driveway. The remainder of Sang’s driveway is where shelters for the cats have been placed. Some are boxes, weather-proofed with colorful duct tape, while the largest was recently…
