Most people don't want feral cats hanging around. But thanks to a new program, some cats in Los Angeles are getting a second chance with a job at a local police station.
If you’ve noticed a string of dead birds around your yard lately, it’s probably the work of your local feral cats.
Whether they’re former house pets who’ve gone wild, or they’ve spent their entire lives as strays, feral cats are a problem in communities all around the world. They cause great devastation to native wildlife, like the poor robins and sparrows you’ve probably stumbled upon, and often carry diseases. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to retrain feral cats as domestic pets, so thousands of the cats are exterminated each year.
But in Los Angeles, a group of feral cats are getting a lucky break. Thanks to a Voice for the Animals Foundation program called The Working Cats, they’ve now been given jobs – working for the cops.
So they won’t be headed out on any ride-alongs, and we have a feeling they wouldn’t get along so well with the K-9 division, but these feral cats can do important work at Los Angeles police stations, simply doing what they do best: Chasing mice.
Several of the stations have had rodent problems for years, and the traps that the police officers set out didn’t do much to help. But since a handful of feral cats have been introduced at each locale, “problem solved,” Cmdr. Kirk Albanese, a captain at the Wilshire station, told The Los Angeles Times. “I was almost an immediate believer.”
The program is a great new way to save the lives of countless feral cats, and to keep the police stations rodent-free.
“If I were a wild cat, that would be a great job,” Albanese said. “Your meals are there, your housing is there, you’re at a police station so you’re safe.”