Josh Imhof | Staff Writer
Stray cats roam all through the country, populating rural areas and cities. They can be found hiding under decks, drinking from fountains or in dumpsters behind apartment buildings.
More than 60 million homeless cats live in the United States, according to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Among this large population, diseases are rampant. Beacause of this, many of these cats live short and uncomfortable lives.
According to their website, Trash Cat Rescue is a nonprofit foster-based cat rescue that serves the greater Pittsburgh area. Their mission is to reduce the suffering of sick, scared or undersocialized cats.
The organization was founded by friends Alysa McNearney and Danielle Walendziewicz in 2021.
The name comes from McNearney’s former foster, Possum, who was found in a dumpster. She said that this idea of a “trash cat,” both in the literal and metaphorical sense, fit their mission, as many of the cats they take in are found in poor and dirty conditions.
McNearney first learned about fostering cats at age 20, while she was attending the University of Pittsburgh.
“This sounds like the best thing ever,” McNearney said, remembering how she felt. “It’s like a library rental program of cats.”
McNearney said as soon as she was approved back then, she drove to the Humane Society to find a cat. She chose one named Little Kitty. McNearney eventually adopted her. She had her until the cat died in December 2023.
Walendziewicz was a vet tech who had experience rehabilitating and assisting animals with medical issues.
The pair were connected by a mutual friend to help socialize a feral cat. They have been teaming up ever since. They decided to start the rescue and begin operating as a nonprofit after taking care of their own foster pets.
“You start to do some stuff for the cats yourself once you’re bringing them in,” McNearney said. “You’re like ‘hey you know these cats have fleas, I should put some flea treatment’ on them or they really should get this or they really should get that. You kinda just start to do a lot of the stuff yourself,” she said.
The rescue provides a wide range of resources such as vaccines, vet appointments, housing, food, water and more.
There is no brick-and-mortar location for the rescue.
Many of the cats can be found in McNearny’s garage, where she has built a makeshift hotel for fosters.
She provides the animals with all the necessities for survival including a litter box, a bed, food, water and toys.
McNearny and Walendziewicz are not alone in their mission. Trash Cat relies heavily on its large group of volunteers to keep the rescue running. Many of them provide foster homes, others serve in different roles, such as transporters.
Catherine Wacha is a resident of Pittsburgh’s North Side neighborhood and a part-time musician. She joined the rescue in 2023 when her cat, Charlie, died.
“Out of all my experiences with cats, this has been the most rewarding,” Wacha said.
As a transporter, Wacha frequently drives cats from the rescue to their vet appointments.
This role benefits the rescue because the owners are occupied with scheduling vet appointments and filing for grants.
Jamie Fair fills another vital role in the non-profit as a reference checker. Fair will look over adoption applications and reach out to vets and landlords to ensure applicants are a good fit.
“Do they take the animal for its regular checkup? Do they get all the vaccines they are supposed to get?” Fair said. “I make sure they are going to a home where their health is going to be monitored and taken care of with the respect that it deserves.”
It is possible for college students to foster cats, McNearney said.
“It’s actually kind of nice if you want to foster instead of adopt because we’re always there for everything you need,” she said. “The rescue pays for everything that they need medically.”
Though fostering is possible, it does not come without responsibility. Students must make sure they have room in their days to spend time with their fosters, monitor their health and understand how to take care of a cat’s day-to-day needs.
“You need to have some basics in place,” Fair said. “You need to have a litter box when the cat comes home. You need to have some room set up that the cat can call theirs, that they can decompress in.”
Stephanie Kirk, who is a volunteer foster at the organization summed up the experience.
“Don’t overthink it,” she says. “Enjoy it. It is super rewarding. Make sure you have a camera on your phone because you’re gonna wanna take a thousand pictures everyday.”