Feral cats: Harmless or Hazardous

 
From the beginning of every semester, everyone’s main focus is registration, making sure everything is in place for the start of classes.
So much effort and attention on one’s own needs and purpose with little or no time to notice something simply right in front of them. 
Southern University students, faculty, staff, and visitors are just starting to notice cats living under buildings from the beginning of the Fall 2011 semester and dating back further than that.
Sightings continued into the first week this spring semester.
They have been moving silently among the SU community, prowling around during the day and night, wondering in search of food and shelter.
The question on how long they been living on campus and the number of them living in the darkness under the buildings are still a mystery.​
Many students believed that the cats were deserted by owners or maybe wandered away from home and were unable to find their way back.”They ​are coming from surrounding neighborhoods, “said Kiamethia Woods, a social work major from Baton Rouge.
According to the Humane Society of the United States “These cats are known as feral cats. Feral cats typically live in a colony—a group of related cats. The colony occupies and defends a specific territory where food (a dumpster, a person who feeds them) and shelter (an abandoned building) are available.”
The Humane Society website mentions, feral cats typically fear strangers and are rarely seen.
Some wonder about the cat’s quality of life and how they survive everyday.
“Feral cats live a grim life. Females are often exhausted and gaunt from the effort of bearing and feeding kittens as well as themselves,” according to CARA (Companion Animal Rescue Alliance).
Many kittens die due to accidents and illnesses. Males fight and injure one another, while illnesses such as feline leukemia and distemper, and FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus) spreads through colonies quickly. CARA mentions, “The cats are attacked by other animals, by uncaring people, or are hit by cars. The lifespan of these cats is often just a year or two.”
However, the biggest decision is what the university should do about them or whether they should do anything at all.
“I think Southern University should do something about this because there is a lot of construction and repairs going on around campus,” said Chaunceyeta Knowsravian, a history major from Baton Rouge. “I would rather see them placed in a shelter so that they can find a nice loving home and get out of harms way.”
​Joshua Jones, a Civil Engineering major from Baton Rouge commented the cats were harmless and didn’t require any action from the university.
“I don’t think that they are bothering anybody,” said Jones.
In the event of transporting cats to shelters, the Humane Society of the United States said, “Feral cats brought to the shelter, especially those who cannot be identified as members of a known TNRed (Trap-Neuter-Return) colony, are likely to be put down right away or after a mandatory holding period.”
It is difficult to accurately identify a feral cat without a holding period. 
In addition, if space is limited at the shelter, an adoptable cat may be put down to make room to hold a feral cat.​
So far the cats are not an issue or problem to anyone, most agree they seem to be harmless to campus safety but, campus is more hazardous to them than they are to it.