Very sad. Another reason we should have NEVER EVER locked down. The pandemic created an adoption boom, which resulted in many kitties being abandoned by their owners eventually
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/08/nyregion/feral-cats-nyc.htmlThe problem is hardly limited to Flatbush. There are colonies in virtually every neighborhood with suitable nooks and crannies — in Bushwick, in Washington Heights, in Ozone Park. There may be as many as half a million feral cats padding around New York City, but no one knows for sure.
“No one knows, and the city doesn’t care to know,” said Will Zweigart, the founder of Flatbush Cats, the nonprofit group that Ms. Gabriel and scores of others volunteer with. “Because if they knew, they would be accountable to do something about it.”
There are a number of reasons for the explosion in feral cat colonies. More people adopted pets during the pandemic, but keeping them soon became difficult. For one thing, pets are more expensive now. New York City — along with the rest of the country — faces a severe shortage of veterinarians, many of whom were overwhelmed and burned out by the high demand for their services, and veterinary fees have outpaced the average rate of inflation for the past 20 years.
Add to that the expiration of eviction moratoriums and other pandemic economic protections, and many New Yorkers simply can’t afford their pets anymore. Some people, fearing that their unwanted cats would be euthanized if they were taken to a shelter, simply let them out on the streets and hoped for the best.
