Anyone taking a stroll around campus during the twilight hours or walking through a quiet back passageway might have encountered one of Tech’s friendliest and furriest friends: the stray cats that live in tucked-away corners of Tech’s sprawling infrastructure. These cats have become unofficial mascots of the Institute, filling the student body’s camera rolls with their whiskered faces.
They can be found at various locations throughout campus, either relaxing under a tree or eating at one of their designated food spots created by the Campus Cats at Georgia Tech. The club requires no introduction, as evidenced by its very popular stand during the Club Organization Fair, as well as the numerous students who display the club’s stickers on their laptops and water bottles.
To learn more about Campus Cats, the Technique sat down with the club’s president, Caroline Hatcher, fourth-year ARCH.
Campus Cats takes care of over 50 cats that live on campus by providing housing, food and generally neutering them to keep them healthy. The club fosters any kittens found on campus until they can find a suitable owner for adoption.
Oftentimes, the people who adopt the cats are students, alumni or Institute staff. For the feral cats, club members can help refill the 14 different feeding stations around campus, as well as create DIY shelters for the cats to stay in. When the winter storms hit campus earlier this year, the cats were still able to stay safe in their insulated shelters.
While the organization is student-led, faculty and outside shelters still help play a role in the club’s success. The club’s faculty advisor has been with the club for over 30 years. The Georgia Tech Police Department (GTPD) also helps by notifying the club about any sightings.
“I get calls from GTPD multiple times about stray cats. Two or three weeks ago, we got a call about a three-week-old kitten they found,” Hatcher said.
A big part of the club’s mission is conducting trap, neuter and release (TNR) on cats they find. By humanely trapping the cat, neutering it and releasing it back into the environment from which it came, the club hopes to prevent the number of stray cats from growing out of control without harming cats that may not be safe to foster.
For TNR, the club collaborates with the Atlanta Humane Society and occasionally works with Lifeline, which operates the animal shelters in Fulton and DeKalb counties. During the TNR, vets also check and treat the cats by providing the necessary vaccines, such as deworming and flea treatment.
“We’re trying to reduce the overpopulation of stray and feral cats because then there would just be massive amounts of cats on campus with a super short life span,” Hatcher explained.
The club works to socialize cats that are under 12 weeks old with humans so they can be adopted. After the 12-week period, human socialization can become significantly more challenging, and it would be unsafe for the cat and the adopter to have a cat in their home after that point. Oftentimes, Hatcher fosters the kittens until the club can find a suitable owner for adoption.
“I have four fosters right now,” Hatcher laughed.
As evidence of the club’s recent growth, 12 kittens and seven or eight friendly adult cats have been adopted in the last two years, according to Hatecher.
While Campus Cats is trying to help reduce the number of stray and feral cats on campus, the club still has its fair share of critics. These critics argue that the cat feeders do not prevent other animals, such as raccoons and squirrels, from eating from them. People also note that due to the popularity of the club, members of the student body are not respecting the cats’ privacy by trying to get too close to them.
If one is lucky enough to see one of the Institute’s cats, there is a high chance, they will also see a student trying to either pick them up or get too close for a photo, which can scare the cats off. At the end of the day, students should always consider how the cats would feel if they saw an animal that was double to triple their size coming after them.
However, the strongest complaints about the club center on its animal conservation efforts, or lack thereof. While the club does plenty to talk about the cats and to reduce their numbers, this same love is not shared with the other animals on campus that also require care. Many bird conservation groups cite cats as the number one human-caused threat to birds, as domestic house cats are technically considered an invasive species.
Due to the Institute’s location in Atlanta and its wooded environment, a diverse array of bird species inhabits the campus, contributing significantly to the local ecosystem. Trying to get one to care about the life of a cat can be easier than for a bird, due to the cat’s more mammalian reactions, which are easier for humans to relate to and connect with.
If one is going to Campus Cats to learn more about the cats’ welfare, they should also take the necessary time to learn about their effects and the welfare of the native animals on the campus. With student resources, stray and feral cats, as well as native animals, can coexist on campus.
If students want to help out Campus Cats, there are many safe ways that are not invasive towards the cats. The organizations hosts workdays where students can clean and repair food stations and shelters, as well as build new shelters. There are also opportunities to help the club refill feeding stations. Workdays tend to occur twice a semester, lasting about three to four hours, and food stations are replenished every week.
The club also has its own app, developed by a computer science Capstone group. The app enables students to report their sightings and provides a list of all the cats on campus, including important information such as whether they are TNRed, in a foster home or have been adopted.
Campus Cats also accepts donations of money, food and any materials needed for the cats’ well-being. If students feel like they have the necessary ability and time to adopt and raise a cat, reach out to [email protected] for more information. You can also follow the club on Instagram @gtcampuscats for more details.