Help PghCatFolx Sustain Feral Cat Care on Pgh's Northside

PghCatFolx is a project of Pittsburgh LGBTQ Charities. You may know us from the Protect Trans Kid projects.

One of our other core programs has been our #PghCatFolx programs, supporting the people who care for community (feral) cats with food drives, financial support for vet emergencies, TNR clinics, and more. We focus on the Northside, but partner with many others in neighboring communities.

We need your support this summer to maintain these programs by sponsoring our ‘Tales from the Back Yard’ event.

We are not a rescue, but we support rescues and colony caretakers with food, supplies, and veterinary care. One example of our work is a Manchester community cat colony.

The colony cats, Fort Faulsey, were living in a home abandoned since the last tenant died in 2000. Over twenty years, generations of cats lived alongside urban wildlife. Their feeding station was a long-abandoned pickup truck. Year after year of kittens added to the colony’s growth.

In 2020, we began trapping these cats, making sure they had clean water and food, and providing shelters. None were social at that point. In 2021, their home was demolished. Later that year, their truck feeding station was towed away for scrap. They had nothing to rely on except us. We put out more shelters and created feeding stations. Bales of straw filled the shelters, protecting them from the elements (like a Fort).

Since Dec 2020, no kittens have been born to this colony. That’s a massive accomplishment. We have found six lost or missing cats. The cat colony is under control. The quality of life in Manchester and the Northside is better for it.

It is important to remember that these animals have always been here, often serving as working companions to housewives and they had ties to Indigenous peoples from this region. Much is undocumented, but we know enough to confirm that the stereotype of a cat lady being a suburban white woman is untrue.

To continue this work, we are organizing an event in August. ‘Tales from the Backyard’ is part yard sale, part distribution of goods. We are inviting rescues, caretakers, and low-income pet owners to browse our donations - blankets, beds, leashes, pet themed accessories, and more. Your sponsorship will help us cover the costs and purchase the equipment we need to continue supporting all of our neighbors.

Please consider a donation to help us continue our work.