Hello, kitty! What’s the deal with campus cats? – Annenberg Media

Around 2 p.m. on August 27, a lone stray cat was stuck on the ledge right above the Metro tracks on Exposition Boulevard. On that day, temperatures reached a high of 97 degrees in the USC area.

Colin Nguyen, a law student graduating in 2025, happened to pass by and attempted to pick it up, but the cat hissed at him.

“I was concerned it would try and jump into the street or fall into the Metro tracks,” Nguyen said. “I did not know what else to do, as I don’t have access to a cat trap, nor did I know if there were any organizations or people I could contact.”

Upon calling animal control, Nguyen was told they could do nothing because cats are “free-roaming.” The cat would stay there for a few more hours before disappearing when Nguyen checked the morning after, having only accepted water and turkey scraps from the concerned Trojan.

In Los Angeles, there are almost one million “community cats” — felines that roam on the streets — according to L.A. Animal Services’ citywide cat program. The program, approved in 2020, was launched to mitigate community cat populations, with methods including Trap-Neuter-Return, or TNR, a process where organizations take cats in for neutering and release them back into the open.

Since cats are considered free-roaming animals, some may be feral, while others are lost pets or outdoor cats that happen to walk around the neighborhood. Cats with ears cut at their tips have likely gone through TNR.

Skyler Nahouray, a junior and president of the Humane Society chapter at USC, is one of the club’s members who helps volunteer at animal shelters and other organizations in South L.A.

“In the past two years alone, we have been contacted by numerous USC students at various times in the day asking for suggestions because they found a stray cat near their apartment or on 28th Street,” Nahouray said. “Depending on the responses we receive, we normally advise the students to try their best to build trust between themselves and the cat in an attempt to slowly pet it.”

From there, students can contact animal services in the area, such as the Stray Cat Alliance, a nonprofit organization located about seven minutes west of campus. To not startle or make a cat feel threatened, it is best to avoid prolonged eye contact and to not force an interaction with an uninterested cat, according to the Humane Rescue Alliance.

Kitty Bungalow-Charm School for Wayward Cats, a community cat organization near USC’s campus in South L.A., practices TNR and nurses cats who have contracted diseases or have been badly hurt. Toni Barrett, executive director at Kitty Bungalow, helps nurse and treat cats at their headquarters, some of whom are feral or semi-feral cats that cannot be adopted.

“Cats are smart. They’re very smart,” Barrett said. “So if you are approaching a truly feral cat, you’re not going to get anywhere near that cat. They’re just gonna bolt. They’re so smart and they’re fairly good at hiding. Now, if you see a cat that appears to be friendly and is social and wants your attention, then you could try to approach that cat.”

It is possible Nguyen saw a “Coli cat,” one of the many felines part of the L.A. Coliseum colony that roams the area as pest control. In collaboration with the Coliseum, Kitty Bungalow performs TNR on the cats and allows them to live independently. From there, the cats take care of rats and other pests, but they often hide away during events that draw large crowds.

Kitty Bungalow and similar organizations practice TNR to help cats on the streets live out their lives and find homes or let them roam safely. Spay and neuter vouchers are also provided by the L.A. Department of Animal Services to residents who want to sterilize their pets. But while volunteers and participants might be eager to help, other services are not readily accessible.

“There’s a lot of help from people here in the city if they want to do TNR. The problem is there aren’t a lot of veterinarians and clinics,” Barrett said. “If you want TNR help, you can find TNR help in L.A. It’s very easy. But if you want a TNR appointment for spay and neuter, it’s better to go through a rescue sometimes because it’s so hard to find…But the resources are out there.”