Inhumanity Towards Feral Cats & Kittens in Joplin -News Report

Cat Cruelty in Joplin, Missouri – Inhumanity Towards Feral Cats & Kittens: Rights Radio™ with Dr. Joyce Starr

August 14, 2010

Joplin’s policy towards feral cats and kittens: Potential legal action against those who feed, neuter, and save them. My guest is a cat protector and feral cat expert, Lindsay Donzanti. Show Date: August 14, 2010.

Lindsay on Joplin Policy:

“Joplin has a feral cat problem and the powers that be are enforcing an ordinance forbidding the feeding and harboring of feral cats.

“If you trap a cat in Joplin, have it sterilized, and/or pay for shots, it’s now considered your cat.

“If you feed the cat after releasing it, you’re breaking the law.

“Rescuers are who own more than four cats are guilty of a misdemeanor.”

“But Joplin residents are not legally permitted to “own” or house more than four animals at a time. Those who keep four animals are not allowed to feed, catch, neuter, or vaccinate feral cats. Moreover, owners who release a cat back to the streets or to a colony are not allowed to feed them. If the cat is starving, you can’t intervene. Their solution is to starve these defenseless cats to death.

“I called the Director of Animal Services in Joplin and He confirmed this inhumane and misguided method of control, which has proven wholly ineffective elsewhere. It is SO cruel. We “colony caregivers” regard these cats as our pets" 

Homeless cats a Rights Radio Review with Lindsay Donzanti

View Letter to Editor Feral Cat Fight published by Dave Woods at Joplin Globe here

Cat and Kittens Trapped for Medical Care

A queen cat with her kittens came to our shelter.  The  cat had the good sense to realize that she needed our help as she had been wounded from fighting off a wild animal that threatened her kittens.

We needed to trap the injured queen cat and her kittens but this was not an easy task because this feral cat knew how to enter the trap without setting off the lever that closed the trap door.

After several days of trying to trap the queen cat and her kittens the trap door closed and we rushed mother cat and kitten to the animal clinic.

The injuries were extensive and the infection was terrible.  The veterinarian recommended putting both cats down but I said no, I asked them to try to save their lives.


I asked my veterinarian if she would heal and he said yes, that it would take time. The vet-technician who cares for both cat and kitten remarked that both cats were calm and showed no aggression to humans which is uncanny for feral cats.

Both cat and kitten underwent medical care for 21 days.  Upon release I cared for them at home for an additional 10 days by administering their treatments and feeding the cats grain free quality cat food with antioxidants to aid in keeping immune system strong. 

The adult queen cat was approximately two years old was released to return to the colony after she had finished her home care treatments. Orange tabby kitten that I called Charlie was socialized and I adopted him.  



Photograph of Lucy the feral cat at woods colony: 

Lucy in Thicket Den

Lucy at Feeding Station winter 2011

Lucy survives summer heat wave 2011

Lucy Late winter 2012

God Watches over Feral Cat with Kittens

The feral cat that I call Lucy arrived at my old shed the other day, she came with her mate a large Norwegian Forest cat that I call Bob. These cats are wild and live in the rock caves that are adjutant to my property. 

These wild cats occasionally join the other colony cats for a bite to eat or enter the shelter for protection when the weather is extreme. Most of the time they are deep in the woods foraging for their survival. 

Today Lucy came to the shed because her left paw is wounded. I suspect from a hunters leg iron trap or from an injury from a rock that may have fallen while she was on the ridge. Whatever the cause the paw was injured and she was walking on three instead of four paws. 

 The shed is always open for any cat that wants to come in out of the cold or the heat. I have a window air conditioner and a window heater that keeps the room temperature comfortable for the cats.  

 God watches over feral cats, and this is why Lucy came to me. I suppose she sensed that I would care for her and protect her from harm. She has been in my shed for one day and allowed me to stand close to her and to view her three very young kittens. Two are black stripes like a British Tabby and the other is a yellow stripe they are only week’s old and all are nursing.

My neighbor is helping me with Lucy, and the kittens. We cannot get close to Lucy to clean her leg wound and have decided to trap her for medical care.  We will trap the kittens also as they will need to be bottle fed.

Lucy's love for her kittens is very strong.  She is suffering in silence as she nurses her kittens.  She keeps them close to her in the bed of straw and protects them from harm.  I love cats and will do what I can to keep them safe. 

Here is a video of a mother cat that hugs her restless kitten and helps it to sleep comfortably.

Feral Cats Deserve a Better Life

There are billions of feral cats worldwide because of human negligence. Feral is the cat that nobody wanted. These cats were abandoned by their owners and left to survive on their own.  

Some cats survived in areas close to a food source others perished. These cats are living a life much like the wild cats of Africa. They are competing for food water and shelter and just want to carve out space for themselves so they can live a peaceful life with humans.

I have been a colony caregiver since 1999 and in that time I have trapped, sterilized, and given the feral cats their vaccines, tape wormer, and treatment for fleas, ticks, and ear mites. 

 All of the feral and stray cats that I have trapped were either socialized for adoption or released to a controlled colony where they are safe from human traffic.

My husband and I care for feral and stray cats.  At the present date, we have 10 cats in our colony.  The colony where the cats reside is on a side of a mountain ridge that is located in a forest of 25 acres. The cats live in limestone cracks and crevices as well as large thicket dens or hollow trees. 

 All cats are fed twice a day and get fresh water at the feeding station.

In the winter the cats are welcome to sleep and get warm in my old shed.  It is a drafty shed, however, it is dry and it does provide the cats with a good wind block and straw-filled beds. 

Some feral cats will go where they go when the weather turns extremely cold or hot and these cats do suffer. They are too wild to realize that the shed has heat and an air conditioner.  

The feral cats are terrified of the noise that the heater or the air conditioner so these cats will burrow into the leaves or the brush in the forest. For these wild feral cats, we will hike out to them to provide them with food and water.  And when the snow is too deep we will make a path to them.   (see the path my husband created for us to get to the cats or for the cats to come to us.)

It is not easy to be a feral cat, most humans fear them and believe they are vicious and diseased.  Many humans think the best interest of the feral cat is to trap them and euthanize them, and this action is humane.  

I have trapped and taken the feral cats in for sterilization, tested for feline aids or leukemia, and out of the 298 cats there was 1 sick cat and that cat was a neighborhood stray cat, very people friendly. 

Feral cats did not ask for this life, they really had no choice as their human abandoned them long ago.  They are feral because of human neglect, a human error that can only be fixed by the caregivers that dedicate their service to trap, spay or neuter and then care for the cats in colonies.  

Feral cats deserve a better life, where they can co-exist with humans without being feared as dangerous animals, with no purpose on earth.