Stray Cats Multiply in Leetsdale Neighborhood

David Sofranko remembers a few years back when there were just two stray cats living in his neighborhood.

Since then, the cat population has exploded. Sofranko now estimates there are about 50 feral cats living on Washington Street.

“A couple cats are fine, but it snowballed,” said Sofranko, who doesn’t own a pet.

He and a dozen other neighbors, including Frank Bombiani, have been feeding them for years. Some residents, however, have raised concerns about the street being overrun with cats and kittens and the possibility that they could .

“I put the food out is all I do,” Sofranko said. “I mean, there could be a problem with rabies.”

The cat colonies are concentrated on Monroe Way, the alley behind the Washington Street residences. Strays curl up on front porches and linger around parking lots and the nearby industrial park. They dart from headlights and anyone who gets too close.

“We’ve all complained about them, but you just put up with them. If you feed them, they are going to come around,” Bombiani said. “They’ve been here seven years, and I haven’t seen any rats or snakes."

Dolores Pollock, who lives on the opposite end of Washington Street, said she and a friend have been working for nearly two years to trap and neuter the cats, capturing about 30 so far. When they became overwhelmed by the problem, they contacted Animal Friends.

Borough Manager Paul Scimio said that until recently, he was unaware strays were bothering residents. The issue was last raised at a 2007 meeting, when he said Leetsdale Council members discouraged residents from feeding wild cats.

Scimio said the police department recently received a couple of complaints that were handed off to the Allegheny County Health Department. Scimio said there wasn't much Leetsdale could do as long as long as neighbors continued to feed the animals. Legally, he said, the borough can’t cite anyone for having too many cats because no one is claiming ownership.

“The population is going to continue growing as long as people feed them,” Scimio said. 

The cats recently caught the attention of Animal Friends, and the shelter’s spay and neuter office is working to provide appointments to accommodate the cats.

Animal Friends spokeswoman Jolene Miklas said the shelter has a "trap, neuter and return" program that involves vaccinating and releasing feral cats as well as ear tipping—a practice in which the top of a cat’s ear is removed to mark the animal as altered. Miklas said the program helps to keep down the population and saves cats from a second trip to the vet. 

“This is the most humane, cost-effective and best way to keep feral cat colonies from growing,” Miklas said.

Some neighbors weren't excited to hear that the cats would be released back into the area. Miklas said capture and return is much cheaper, more effective and more humane. She said cats are "very territorial."

“If you put feral cats back in their colony, it will keep other cats from moving in and the population just thins out naturally,” she said.