Original subtitles

Mr.

Bob.

My name is Pat Frederick.

I live here in Germantown, Philadelphia.

I take care of about 80 cats.

I've been doing it for about nine years.

There's over half a million community cats just like this throughout

Philadelphia. And these cats have no home. They form colonies or social

based not just on companionship, but in order to survive.

These cats are often mistreated by the public. I mean, I've seen some bad

things. The thing that I always talk about is that the difference between the

cat that's in your lap at home and the cat that's out there under your car,

there is no difference. They're both your cats.

It's brutal.

If I don't come, they don't eat. So I'm coming. I don't care.

This is Albert.

Henry. That's Big Guy. He's the daddy of them.

This is one of the most important stories that I've ever shared.

There's a dedicated group of people in this city who have been fighting for

decades in complete anonymity to slow the incredible rate of growth at which

these cats are reproducing out here. You know, you bond with them and you know

that they rely on you.

There's an estimated 70 million feral cats living on the streets in this

country, so it's not just a Philadelphia problem, but we can all learn from the

people here about how we can help the community cats in our own backyard.

It's important that they at least get food and love from someone, the life,

it doesn't matter.

Okay, Mr. Bob, I'm going to see you tomorrow, little boy, okay?

Hello, Philadelphia.

I am here in the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

A good, dear friend of mine, Laura Gretsch, who is an incredible animal

advocate, she calls me to help her out with what is a feral cat epidemic here.

There's over 400 ,000 feral cats on the streets of Philadelphia. That's huge.

And spring around the corner means kitten season. Numbers are going up

here. We need to get a handle on this right now.

Community cats is an umbrella term that we use to describe cats that are living

on the street. Now, some may have been pets that were simply turned loose, but

the majority are feral, which is to say these are cats that were born and raised

on the street.

Some feral cats have absolutely no social contact with humans.

Others are fed by caregivers and are much more trusting, but just because

they're approachable doesn't mean that you should take them home. In most

they just won't thrive.

You called the cab?

Hey, buddy.

Hey, baby. How are you?

How are you doing? Welcome to Philadelphia.

I got a car. I got you.

I would love to see some colonies around here.

I had a feeling you were going to say that. Jackson and I met about 10 years

at an event at the SPCA in San Francisco, and we hit it off

I need you to help me recruit some volunteers, Jackson. You can help me

the troupe, get a new generation involved.

We get daily, you're talking 25, 30, up to 35 newborn kittens coming into the

shelters, and it's winter. And you know what comes after winter?

Kitten season.

Kitten season. You're going to be making more kittens.

I want to save these cats.

and I want to save them by doing the right thing for them. Trap them, neuter

them, return them. It's not a rehome, it's not a rescue.

The only way that we can effectively manage these feral communities is

system that we call Trap, Neuter, Return, or TNR.

We humanely trap these guys, neuter them, and then put them back out here

their colonies so that they no longer reproduce.

Now, it may seem counterintuitive to show that you care about these cats by

putting them back out here, but this is their home.

PNR is the only humane way to help today's cats live better lives while

effectively controlling their numbers in the future.

People don't realize that that one cat that they save off the street is

connected to hundreds of kittens that were never born and were prevented from

either dying out on the street or being brought into a shelter and being killed

because they're not adoptable.

We manage those colonies. Exactly.

Today we asked community cat experts Kathy and Christy to meet us.

Hey! Hey guys!

Hi!

Together we're going to visit some colonies and hopefully get a handle on

epidemic. I'm Christy Rojero. I'm the program manager for Cat Positive at the

Jackson Galaxy Project.

I run a group called Temple Cats.

Basically a volunteer group of a handful of students trying to help community

cats. These guys are introducing me to a caregiver who's dedicated nearly 10

years of her life to helping Philly's community cats.

There she is.

Hi, Pat!

Hey, Pat. I'm Jackson.

Nice to meet you.

I'm the caretaker for 80 cats. I track them, get them fixed, and feed them

daily. I come out every day, 365 days a year.

Oh, hi.

That's Bob.

Alexander, he's a little bit shy. He's not coming out right now. And then

there's a few others, Calypso and Mommy and Joshua.

I started off just feeding the cats that were on my street, which was about 20

cats at that time. And then it grew because people would tell me about other

cats that were starving, and then I ended up feeding them.

How many sort of colonies are there? I have at least 11 different locations

I go to every day.

Every day? Every day.

Where do you get your food from? I do get some food security, so 99 % of that

goes to feeding the cats.

The rest goes for me to buy my medicine because I have a lot of major health

issues. I have congestive heart failure, kidney disease, and some other issues

also. And are you the only one doing all this?

That I know in this area. What? If Pat wasn't here right now, these cats would

have nothing. Pat is alone.

And that's a lot of cats for one person to be dealing with without her. These

cats would be dead.

If I see them and I know that they're hungry, I start feeding them and then I

eventually, you know, get them fixed.

You're exactly the kind of person that we want to be able to shine a light on.

You know what I'm saying? Because you need some help.

Pat is alone in poor health, 365 days a year, 80 cats. She needs somebody

able -bodied, healthy to pass the baton to. Bye, Pat. See you.

Okay, Mr. Bob.

I'm going to see you tomorrow, little boy, okay?

The fact that she can actually be out here alone. Every day.

Yep. That's upsetting.

She needs help. I definitely can pull together resources.

I'm going to use everything I got at my disposal to help these guys out for

sure.

Here we go.

Laura's gotten word of an area that apparently has one colony with over 50

cats. Now this I got to see.

You got some food out of that? Yeah.

Oh, boy.

Oh, look.

They're coming out of a hole, man.

The freakiest thing right now is that as we get closer, there's holes all over

these buildings.

Okay, I got to know. I have to know. Yeah, me too. I have to know. Me too.

I'm going down.

You guys got anything?

It's a red camera.

Now I got this little camera on a stick and that's going right into the

building. Okay, we're coming in.

Oh my god, I hope I don't lose this camera.

I found a pipe. Oh wait, I see somebody.

Oh my god, look, look, look, look, look.

Oh my god.

Oh wait, I see somebody.

Oh my god, look, look, look, look, look. Oh my god.

Look at that, look at that.

That's one freaking hole.

As I'm holding the camera under the building, I see a pair of eyes. And then

you got to do is move six inches and there's five more.

I see cats. And there could be dozens more. This is a prime example of a

where we got to trap as many of these cats as we can and get them spayed and

neutered. What I'd also like to do is bring in what we call feral houses.

They're just retrofitted plastic storage bins lined with styrofoam and filled

with straw to help hold in the heat.

Providing a great alternative shelter can get these cats out from under this

cold concrete building and help them survive this winter.

It's okay. It's okay. Don't be scared.

Where are your food plates?

Holy moly. Look.

Look at this.

Oh, man. Everyone's coming out.

Oh, my. They're everywhere.

Holy.

God, there are so many cats here. They're just coming out of the woodwork.

have a ton of cats. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11,

12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19.

I counted like upper 20s and I lost count. I'm counting 22 at this point,

in this little spot.

Usually if I see 10, I assume there's 30. Yeah.

And this is one tiny corner of the property. I know, man. This place is

This is a huge property.

I've been trapping for more than 10 years. This is more than I've ever seen

out all at once.

So we have several houses here.

Look at how marked up they are, man.

We see some sort of standard -issue feral houses. There's no straw inside

There's no insulation.

I mean, there's multiple structures here, which makes me think that multiple

people have been involved over multiple years, and it just keeps dropping off

because there's not enough.

So clearly somebody just got overwhelmed.

Whoever did this did it a long time ago, and since then the colonies multiplied,

and now the cats are forced to seek shelter under the building. We're going

need at least 50 shelters brought here.

If you can get a whole bunch of people and train them to trap, I mean, we can

turn this into a thing. I mean, we can turn this into an event. This is easy

trapping. We bring a bunch of brand new trappers in here and say, we're going to

teach you how to trap, and I guarantee you will trap a cat on your first try.

So this is like trap school here? This is trap school. That's amazing.

Philly needs to know that these cats are out here, struggling to survive.

When people care for the cats in their lap, we need to translate that to caring

about the cats in their own backyard.

All right.

I'm going to see you soon with a trap in my hand.

Hey. Hey, guys.

How you doing?

This is it. We are at a community center that Kathy set up for us. We're not 24

hours into this, and all of a sudden we've got these really entrenched people

the community already trying to help us create this plan.

Once we get people together, we get them trained, we've got to send them out

somewhere, and we're going to make this initial.

map of where these colonies are at based on the information coming in from the

community here to us.

And we're going to promote the hell out of this thing. Here we go, a little bit

of that, a little bit of that. Like putting together a map.

In order to achieve the T in TNR, we have to get traps.

These are humane traps.

The cats walk in there, the door closes, we have a cat. And we're going to need

a lot of them.

Listen, all I need is a commitment.

You got it? True cats came through. 100 traps. That should get us through this

day. We got at least 100 cats that are going to get off the street in a few

if we have people to trap them. We have one right near State Road and Keystone

Street. State Road right about here?

Yep. 50 plus. 50 plus.

Pratt Street, about 40.

Devereux Avenue, about 35.

Oh, goodness.

Okay. Reality check here. We've got well over 100 cats that we've identified in

a very short amount of time. These are a lot of colonies. I mean, I knew there

would be, but I didn't think it was going to be this concentrated. There are

lot of cats in northwest Philly. And the N in TNR means neutered. So every cat

we trap needs a place to undergo surgery, too.

And it's a little daunting right now.

In terms of the surgeries, it would be best to have something right here, right

in this area.

Emancipet's right there.

Emancipet's right here?

Yeah. All right, so I guess I know what my next move is. I've got to call

Emancipet. Let's get back to work. Oh, yeah.

Emancipet is fairly new to the Philadelphia area.

You guys do amazing work when it comes to providing help for people who have

animals but are low income. We need the surgeries done. We also need recovery

-based. Okay. I know it's a lot.

Anytime somebody says, I need 100 surgeries done in one false move, that

you a little bit of pause. Yeah.

But... I think that we can make it work.

That's why I called you.

Amy comes through in a big way. A hundred surgeries.

We did all the legwork here. So now Laura and I got to go hit the street. Do

what we do best. Going door to door, person to person. Make them into cat

and get them over here.

Looking for cat people?

Philadelphia, I know you want to meet the cat daddy.

And I know you want to help him save cats.

How much do you guys know about community cats? Like, they're all cats.

A little.

There's like one feral one outside my house right now. You come to our party

within moments you will know how to help that cat and save its life.

This is what we're here for. We're disruptors. We're yellers and screamers.

We're also here to say that community cats are not a dainty thing, man.

loud and it's aggressive and it's something that everybody can be a part

you want to trap feral cats? Do you want to learn about feral cats? Do you want

to come out with me and have a good time? Please come and join us because

really going to be a good time. Thank you. Yes, absolutely.

I'll be there.

Cool. Awesome.

This is happening.

This is really happening.

Now all we need is for the people who said they'd help to show up.

What I want to make sure that people know is you're not just trapping a cat.

Of course, every cat counts, but that cat can turn into a thousand in the

of an eye.

Hey! Hey! How you doing?

Good morning!

Hannah, kitten lady's here. She not only knows kittens.

But she's also a TNR expert. She has tons of young followers on social media,

and we are hoping they make it out to the event today. You can set up all your

stuff. I brought all sorts of supplies, so I'll get set up. And let me know if

you need any help. I lived in Philadelphia when I started getting

cats. There's such a great need here. So I am hopeful that a lot of people will

come out and that we can kind of transform some cat lovers into cat

Display.

Items from one bag and then explain to people. You just spread them out? Yeah.

Okay. Yeah. All right, let's do that.

We got newspaper, we got bait, garbage bags.

Yeah. We are trapping food.

Of course, we want to go out and trap cats.

But for the long term, you know, if we're thinking about making any kind of

impact, you need to involve newcomers. I hope people do come.

We don't have a lot of people. Good thing you have a lot of traps. We do

lot of traps. It's just the weather's scaring me a little bit.

Actually, a lot.

Yeah. We've got a lot at stake here.

Amy's got space for 100 surgeries.

She's got vets flying in tonight just to be able to handle that many surgeries

tomorrow morning. We need people to do the trapping. We've got the cats out

there, but without the people, this whole thing's a bust.

See if anyone's out there.

Oh, my God. The streets are empty. We need, like, what? 50 people.

Yeah. Oh, this is still not good.

It doesn't look good.

See if anyone's out there.

Oh.

It looks bad.

Whoa, this is like your worst nightmare.

You're throwing a party, and then you're just standing there by yourself. We

need like, what? 50 people.

Yeah. We have TNR stations. We've got traps set up. We have all of the gear

all the supplies that people need. We've got the surgeries ready. So we're in

place. But if we don't have the people to trap those cats, this whole thing's a

bust.

Let's go, man.

Look at them.

Come on in. Come on in. I love having kids here. How are you? What's your

Good to meet you.

I'm Jackie. Thanks for being here. Hey, guys. Come on in. Glad you guys are

here. Good to see you, Braylon. How you been, man?

Hey. What's up? How are you?

Yay,

people.

Thank God.

I know.

I'm so excited. Thank you guys for coming so much. I'm so excited to

learn how to do it. Yay!

Exactly. This is really happening. There's a lot at stake here. There's a

cats who need us. There's a lot of people to be educated.

Hello, good people. Thank you so much for being here today.

We're here because of community cats who need our help.

There's approximately 400 ,000 community cats around Philadelphia.

TNR, who knows what that means?

Travenator Return.

That's right.

Travenator Return is the most humane way to help control the population in

Philadelphia and everywhere else. You're going to learn all about that. It's

going to take a compassionate army here in order to make sure that all the cats

in Philadelphia have the help they need.

Let's go save some cats. What do you say?

Right on, guys. Let's go.

Off we go.

When Laura asked me to come, I'm sure she had a vision of what it would be

I don't think she had a vision that was this big. There are a lot of moving

parts right now.

In order to know if these cats need to be trapped, you're going to be looking

for something called an ear tip. This is what an ear tip looks like. Basically,

the top little portion of the little triangle is taken off during surgery.

That's a symbol to whoever's out there taking care of cats that this cat has

already been...

Bait or neutered and vaccinated.

So this is the bait side of the trap.

And this is what I like to call the business end of the trap.

This is where the cat actually needs to go in.

What you want is for the cat to step on this.

Because when they step on it, the trap door closes.

And then at that point, you want to make sure that you fully cover that trap.

This is not book learning. This is street learning. And if you're a rookie

walking in here, you won't be when you walk out.

You guys have graduated from this area here. Now we're going to do the thing

real, right?

The party guys are going to be officially trappers now. And this is

gets fun.

We're going to be fanning out. We have got a lot of places to hit. We're going

to have three teams going over to the retirement community.

We've got a couple teams going to the trucking yard. We've got little ones

dotting all over these areas. They're smaller colonies that we're going to

people out to as well.

And we are good to go. All right, guys. Let's go. Let's go.

Over the past couple of weeks, we've identified the colonies with the highest

concentration of cats.

Now, we're partnering up the rookies with the veterans to help show them the

ropes, and we're focusing our trapping on those areas to give us the best

of helping the most cats possible.

Laura, I'll make an admission.

Uh -oh. I've never trapped in this weather before.

No. I'm a little nervous. I'm a lot nervous.

All right, here we go. All right, let's go.

I don't see anybody coming out right now.

Trapping in the pouring rain is really challenging because cats will hide to

stay dry and food odor won't carry as well.

Here, give me that.

All right, let's start baiting. My secret weapon,

fish tossing can mackerel.

Now, if it starts to let up, they'll come out and they'll want to eat.

You know, normally, we really would choose if there is an option not to trap

the rain.

But it does happen sometimes. That's why, you know, we have this

trash bag technique.

Yeah. Zero cats.

All traps are still open. And I think the rain's really in the way. I'm really

quite concerned.

It is pretty treacherous weather out here and it's turning out that these

don't want to leave their spot. We're going to set some traps underneath stuff

because the cats don't want to be in this any more than you guys do.

They're all kind of like holed up. So now we just cross our fingers and wait.

If it was a sunny day,

Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. We would have already gotten them. But cats

are wary in the rain, and the smells aren't going to be as pronounced.

Right.

I mean, I could put up the bravest face in the world, but look at this. We're

soaking wet.

It's freezing.

The cats are sitting in the pouring rain, and I feel pretty bad about that

well. I mean, this is a real challenge.

Oh, my God, my hands are frozen.

We have to get these cats.

In to a man's the pet tonight, or we're going to lose all of these surgery

slots. It's really challenging.

Laura, Laura, Laura.

Come on, baby.

Oh, my God. Please go in.

Come on. You've got to be kidding me.

Come on, man.

Look at this.

It's a wet, freaking mess.

It's a wet freaking mess.

We're soaking wet.

It's freezing.

I mean, this is a real challenge.

You know what?

I'm going to go get some more traps, but we're not going to give up.

We're just not going to give up. It's just, it's really challenging.

We're going to get this done. We owe it to the cat. Jackson!

Jackson, Laura!

They got one!

All right, let's go.

All right, so let's get him back to the truck.

We got another.

We got one?

Yeah. All right.

Finally, the cats are starting to roll in. We're actually trapping cats here.

I mean, the rain hasn't let up, but neither have we. And now everyone's

are finally paying off.

All right, let's check this guy out. The guy inside the building said that he is

Big Papa around here. He's the one who's been procreating left and right. And

you are a Big Papa.

Big Papa, baby.

All right, so let's get these guys in the back of the truck.

I'm going in and putting the traps as close as I possibly can to these cats.

hoping that when I go away, those cats are going to go in.

The reason I'm standing in the rain is because these cats need TNR.

They really overpopulate, and it really needs to be done.

Here comes one. Here comes a calico.

The other ones are looking on.

There's one in there. Hi, sweetheart.

Hi, baby.

Thank God.

I'm going to get her out of the rain. Awesome.

I hope we catch a couple more, but this is a pretty good start.

We just got one.

Super cute. All dressed up and somewhere to go now.

Okay, let's go check the rest of the trap to see if we found anyone else.

I am such a big animal lover and I hope that we touch many paths and just make

the world a better place.

Go TNR!

I literally heard the rattling of a trap as I was walking up.

Awesome. So we definitely have one.

I mean, I love cats, so knowing how to better help them in my community is

awesome. We'll get them labeled, in the car all packed up, and then we've got to

get them to Innisfree Pet before intake finishes at 8 o 'clock.

But on a rainy night, cold and all that, we got how many cats?

Four! Yay!

For a rainy day, that is four times more than what you would normally get.

Yay!

We're cats!

You got one?

Yeah, I got my first one. You got your first one!

Yep, look at you snaggle too.

Right here.

Catching my first cat was kind of like a rush almost.

It was exciting, it was kind of a relief because I was standing there with bated

breath and it made me a little hungry for more in a way.

I'm hooked.

All right. All right. So we got the heat jumping in here.

They're going to stay toast. At least these guys are going to be warm.

So this is pretty amazing. While these guys were trapping, I went and called

from Emancipet. Because of this unbelievable storm passing through here,

really stepped up. She said they'll keep taking cats in tomorrow.

That'll make such a huge difference.

Guys, we're going to call it a night. This was a huge win.

But let's talk about one cat in particular.

We got Big Papa.

We got Big Papa. When you think about the 400 ,000 cats in Philadelphia alone,

one cat like Big Papa is where it all explodes from. Who we're taking in

tonight, you have no idea how many lives that's saving, both present and future.

You look around this colony in particular, there's a lot of little

around here. And because of you guys being here tonight, there will be no

Thank you guys for doing this.

Honestly, this is... I knew when I asked Jackson to come that we were going to

do something. I knew he could get people psyched up.

I didn't expect this. I didn't expect to come out in a torrential downpour with

folks who have never even touched a trap and not only get this number of cats,

but to see how happy they were and how excited they were to be a part of this.

can't even describe it. It's everything I wanted. Jackson did it.

Don't forget the trapping continues in the morning because we still have these

free surgeries waiting for us. We are going to get cats in. We're going to

them. Thank you, guys.

Thank you.

I've been around the block, and I have never been out here in this kind of

weather and actually caught a cat.

They're going over to Romance Pet right now. I mean, as down as I was, I may be

wet and cold, man, but I'm psyched.

Hi. Come on in.

Hi, baby. What's up, baby?

I'm Amy Mills, and I'm the CEO at Romance Pet. We open up extremely low

veterinary clinics inside underserved areas across the country. We want to see

over 100 cats in here tomorrow. That's what we all came here to do, and so

willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen.

We've got cats for you. We've got cats. I'm ready for cats. All right, let's do

this. So come on back. Come on back. Our veterinarian is in the back, and we'll

do some exams on these guys.

Oh, boy corner. I love it. I love it. It's heavy.

Got some more for us, huh? Oh, yeah.

Here's another river view big boy. Another boy. Nice big girl. She's pretty

young, too.

Good girl.

This is pretty amazing. I mean, at the moment, we've got about 20 cats here, so

we're about to be not reproducing more feral cats. This is what the PNR

experience is all about.

We've got a good number for tonight, and we're excited about surgery tomorrow,

and maybe a little bit more in the morning.

came out in a monsoon, which is to say that in the morning when it's not so

monsoony, you're going to get a lot more cats before the morning's up. So we're

going to let you guys get back to it, and we'll see you tomorrow.

Bye. I feel absolutely amazing.

I feel energized. It's been a long day, and I really could go back out there and

do it again. No, I'm just kidding.

No.

Put a sterile drape on.

Her stats are perfect.

Let's go check on Big Papa.

Do it.

It was a long night last night. We're back here at Emancipet to check up on

cat. While Laura and I are here checking up on surgeries, the trapping continues

in our biggest locations.

It is a nice day out there right now. And what that means is that the cat that

we couldn't catch last night, We are going to catch today. By the end of this

morning, there are going to be a lot more cats having surgery than are here

right now.

Thank you so much for staying around late like this. I mean, honestly,

was so crazy, you know. But this is what we were hoping for. These guys here at

Emancipet have gone above and beyond.

staying here longer than they had to just to accommodate our needs. These

have rolled with the punches just like we did. So the first process, they get

anesthetized. We wrap them in a fleece, and then they move to our prep stations.

They actually get the ear tip during the prep process.

We shave them down, and then they scrub the incision site. Then they move into

the surgery area. We try to keep our surgeons back in the surgery area so

they're just focused on cutting, and that allows us to do a high volume of

surgeries like the kind we're doing today.

So then the surgeons finish the surgery. surgery, then they come down to

recovery.

All of these cats are going to stay here overnight, and then tomorrow they'll be

ready to go back out.

Pretty effective way to go here. It's really a testament to Amy and her crew

here. I mean, they're an efficient machine. Everybody knows exactly what to

to make sure that these guys go in and out and recover as fast as possible.

That topical anesthetic inside the incision so that she's got a little

additional pain relief.

I've seen hundreds of these surgeries before, but every time you go in there,

you get that rush because every single cat that's coming in here will have a

markedly better life.

So right now I'm just tying off her ovaries. We got most of the uterus out.

not sure I've actually ever seen one that big before.

Holy moly, it's huge.

We got most of the uterus out. I'm not sure I've actually ever seen one that

before. Holy moly, it's huge.

Wow. Oh, my God.

We have one of the largest pyometras I've ever seen in a cat right here.

We had a pyometra cat?

Pyometra is a direct result of having litter after litter after litter.

Remember, these guys can deliver kittens at least two times a year.

It's a really bad infection of the uterus.

That is enormous.

Oh, roughly 20 times bigger than normal. It's really a miracle she jumped in a

trap last night, and we were able to save her life because this could have

potentially ruptured. Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

That's incredible. And think of how much pain she was in, and she really would

have died if that hadn't come out. If this cat hadn't have been trapped last

night, this cat would have been dead tomorrow.

And since she's here getting well, thank God.

And that cat's going to go back out to that colony a healthy cat.

That really, that one just hit me so hard. To be able to tell our trappers,

you're not just preventing lives from being born in the first place, you're

saving them. Yeah. That's just incredible.

Yeah. One of the uphill battles we've been facing for years, and one of the

things I wanted to make sure that we were highlighting here, is that TNR is

only.

humane way of controlling community cat populations. They get to live their

life, and it's a life worth living.

Oh, Big Papa.

I know, baby boy.

You have no idea. Very soon, man. Life changes. When you do this kind of thing,

there's always one cat who stands out to you. For me and Laura, it's our man,

Big Papa, who managed to populate a good part of Riverview, but now he's in

there. getting taken care of, and we like him a lot better now that he's not

there doing his thing. And he's done.

I just removed both of the testicles. So that entire surgery just lasted what?

45 seconds.

45 seconds. That is unbelievable.

It's amazing when you think about the fact that in 45 seconds, lives are

changed. Lives are saved. Hundreds and hundreds of kittens are not born.

TrapNoodle Return works, and this is the proof.

Hey, you want to give him a snuggle? Oh, my Bobby.

If I have, like, one minute to hold our boy.

Oh, buddy.

Oh, hi, Papa. There's our boy.

Hi, Papa. This is the only chance we have to get cuddles from a feral cat.

I got to tell you, if there's one thing today that is a first for me, it's Big

Papa sleeping in my arms. Yeah, he's unconscious, and that's the only chance

I'll ever have to hold him and cuddle him. But, hey, I'll take it, man.

He'll never know about it, but it'll stay with me.

I got something to tell you. Okay.

Good news.

Okay, good. I love good news.

Reports are coming in. We got 35 cats coming in right now. That's amazing.

Congratulations. Y 'all are amazing. That's awesome.

35. Let's get ready. All right.

That is pretty amazing.

35 cats trapped by newbies.

What? Me and Laura wanted so bad was to know that there was a new generation of

trappers and people who were just compassionate about community cats

there. And those guys will train others. That means that we've won, and it feels

good.

He and I have been friends for like 15 years, and we have been talking about

doing this together.

I didn't think that when I finally got to trap with my friend that it would

inspire this many more people to come and help.

I feel unbelievable success and accomplishment, and this is only the

This time tomorrow, buddy.

Yeah! Right now, the cats are in surgery. They will be all day. And we've

kids making houses here, and that feels amazing.

So, let me ask you a question.

Do you actually know what's going to happen with these?

You don't know what's going to happen?

You're going to know.

There are cats out there who are going to go into these houses because they

to live outside and it's freezing.

And they get to go into these houses and they're going to be warm all winter

long because of what you guys are doing right now.

Isn't that cool?

You have three cats?

Yeah,

what's the cat's name?

B -boy?

I love it, man.

Your heart.

Everybody needs a heart. I mean, these guys, Braylon over there, Aaliyah right

here, are going to be grown -up cat rescuers. I'm telling you, they all have

in them to be that next generation.

Safe, warm, and cozy.

That's right.

There it is.

So, we're here today at a man's pet.

for the final step in this whole thing to release the cats.

But before we do anything, I got a big surprise for this community. It's going

to blow them away. This has been just one heck of a ride. In a matter of 48

hours, we have now spayed and neutered 60 cats. These guys are all going back

today.

One of the things I want to talk about is emancipate. Amy Mills, please come

here.

We at Emancipat are launching a fundraising campaign, and our goal is to

another 500 free community cats, spays, and neuters.

And it ain't over yet.

Jackson Galaxy Project, along with Greater Good, has committed to another

So that's 1 ,000 altogether.

This is bananas. 1 ,000 surgeries that are going to affect the cats in this

community and the caregivers that help those cats in a very meaningful way.

Kathy's always been thinking, through Temple Cats, of being a resource.

So, starting right here.

The trap company, True Catch, they stepped up and donated 100 traps.

Those 100 traps, I would like to go to you, Kathy, but that's not where it

So.

So, Halo stepped up in a huge way. 40 ,000 meals that are coming to Temple Cat

to then be distributed to the neighborhood. This is the beginning of a

bank. And here's the great part.

They are going to commit to 40 ,000 meals every year for as long as you need

that.

So, Halo Pet Food stepped up.

40 ,000 meals this year and every year to come.

That means that North Philadelphia is taken care of.

This is beyond my wildest dreams.

Temple Cats is really a starting group. We're trying to start. We're trying to

grow and become something.

And this just put us in hyperdrive.

Now it's the traps and the food. I know that when we get a call or request for

help, we'll be able to actually just go out the door.

and get to people. This is really what we needed all along.

Now we are going to take 60 cats and get them back to their colonies. So let's

go. Knowing that these guys are going to go back out to their colonies, not

breeding, and having a much better quality of life than they had before,

what this is all about.

Do this.

Hey!

Everybody ready?

I think Aaliyah is more ready than anyone.

Are you excited?

I wanted to come out here and learn from Jackson because I love cats and I want

to learn more about cats because I just want to keep helping them.

All right, so I am turning this over to Laura.

All right, so come on. Let's get these cats.

All right, let's go.

Returning them and seeing them do that happy dash out of the trap, that's why

I'm here. Are you ready?

Let's send some cats home, guys.

Cool, Mama.

Woo!

Yeah!

This is why I did it. Watching Aaliyah open that cage, I could see 10, 15 years

from now, she's going to be doing this. She's going to be that generation that

finishes the job that people like Laura started.

It's priceless.

You ready, Big Papa?

Let's go, buddy. Your Papa days are over.

There goes the big boy.

We did it, guys!

Wonderful,

guys. He's checking it out.

It is exactly children like Aaliyah that we want to inspire.

She might be young right now, but it doesn't mean that she cannot make a

difference. That's really all we wanted. It's that sprout of hope. And if that's

there, it lights the fire.

This is how you pass the baton.

Absolutely. Thank you so much for coming out here.

Aaliyah, thank you for letting out the first cat.

Look at that smile.

Thank you guys so much, and keep it up. One of the beautiful things about a lot

of the rookies that just walked in here 48 hours ago, they're now caretakers.

These are their cats.

I learned that there are a lot of stray cats and we really need to help them.

When I get older, I definitely want to help train the next generation and be

like Hannah. Can I get a group hug?

It's been an amazing experience.

Go team!

That ruled. We did it. Thank you for bringing me here. Thank you for coming.

This is the culmination of a very long week, but this is all worth it, man.

Watching these cats go is the most amazing thing because... We're saving

not just the lives of kittens that won't be born, but these cats needed help,

and we helped them, and I'm really feeling good about that.

The cats in your community need you. Go to jacksongalaxyproject

.org to find out exactly what you can do right now.