Help the Pittsburgh Prison Cats

A colony of feral community cats live on the prison grounds at the abandoned Western State Penitentiary – affectionately called, the prison cats. “Community cats” are outdoor, unowned, free-roaming cats. Community cats can be friendly, feral, stray, lost, formerly owned, abandoned, etc. who may or may not have a caretaker. A caretaker is a person who conducts TNVR (Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return) and provides care to a community cat, but who is not the legal owner.

The prison cat caretakers care for the prison cats daily and are making good progress managing the colony population through TNVR, but new abandoned cats show up constantly and we are now at a point where we need to fundraise to help continue to provide food, supplies, winter shelters, and TNVR surgical provisions for the cats. We also move friendly cats who show up at the prison into foster with the ultimate goal of them being adopted into a home.

With ioby funding, we will be able to provide the below to the prison cats:

• Daily food 
• Medical care and spay/neuter services 
• New feeding stations and winter shelters
• A clean, safe, and a litter free environment

One of the goals of TNVR is to ensure homeless cat populations are humanely managed and cats are vaccinated and defleaed and dewormed. Gaining these funds can help us ensure the public safety and health of the trails around the jail and maintain the health of the prison cat colony.