HOAS/APARTMENT RESOURCES
CONFLICTS WITH PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
If you care for community cats on property that is not owned by you – for example: at an apartment complex, strip mall, or restaurant parking lot – you may experience conflicts with the property management. Please refer to this Alley Cat Allies website for immediate actions you can take if you or the community cats are being harassed:
EDUCATE PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
Let the property management know the outdoor cats you see around the HOA or apartment are free-roaming community cats, protected under California Penal Code 597. These cats are unfortunately homeless, and likely the offspring of abandoned pets by previous residents in and around our complex. Feel free to share that you have enlisted the Palm Springs Animal Shelter (PSAS) to assist the property to ensure all adult cats are humanely Trapped, Neutered/Spayed, and Returned (TNR). Unfortunately, these cats are not domesticated and cannot be adopted out. As each cat goes through the TNR process, the cat will be vaccinated for rabies and other diseases, ear-tipped, treated for injury or infection, ear mites, fleas, or ticks. Over time the number of free-roaming cats will naturally decrease, once they are all sterilized. The left ear-tip is the identification to recognize which cats have gone through TNR.
IMPORTANT NOTES FOR EVERYONE
- It is illegal to remove and abandon cats and kittens from any property under CA Penal Code 597
- Palm Springs Animal Control will NOT remove free roaming cats, as the City of Palm Springs supports Trap-Neuter-Return-Management as the only method to reduce the free-roaming cat population.
- Palm Springs Animal Control works closely with Palm Spring Animal Shelter, and refers all non-abuse cases of free-roaming cats back to the PSAS TNR team.
- Ear-tipping is the preferred method to identify free-roaming cats that have been spayed and neutered
LONG TERM RECOMMENDATIONS
It is inhumane, and can be considered abandonment, to suddenly stop supplying food and water to a colony of cats. So once all cats are sterilized through TNR we recommend establishing a single discrete feeding station to be maintained by the residents. PSAS can offer direction on guidelines to ensure the feeding station is discrete and well maintained in a clean and safe manner free of debris and ants. By provisioning ongoing food and water the cats remain healthy and disease free! And, the best way to keep cats free from toxoplasmosis is to feed them using commercially purchased cat foods. Cats left to eat only rats and uncooked meats are more susceptible to toxoplasmosis.