In 2014, Cathy Liu noticed a problem with cats on Temple University’s campus. During her daily commute, she observed a steady increase in the number of cats roaming the grounds in poor conditions.

“People don’t realize how bad the problem is,” said Liu, a professor at the Boyer College of Music and Dance. “These cats are dying in hidden places and nobody knows.”

Since then, Liu has been committed to ensuring the well-being of cats in Temple’s neighborhood and working to control the cat population through the Facebook group Temple Cats. Liu, who graduated from Temple in 1999, stays true to her alma mater by teaching piano at Boyer. When she’s not in the classroom, she devotes her free time to Temple Cats.

According to Animal Care and Control Service Provider, one of Philadelphia’s animal shelters, there are about 400,000 stray or feral cats in Philadelphia. Many cats seek shelter in vacant lots and quiet corners, cleverly avoiding the hustle and bustle of the city. In their hidden colonies, it doesn’t take long for the cat population to get out of control.

“A female cat can give birth as early as four months old,” Liu said. “Cat pregnancies last only two months, and there is no waiting period between giving birth and another pregnancy. Each female cat can have 20 to 30 kittens per year. And if half of those kittens are female, it’s a never-ending cycle.”

Under the expert eye of former Temple Graduate Schools Associate Dean Margaret Pippet, Liu learned everything she needed to know about working with Temple Cats. Pippet took control of the Temple Cats Facebook page in 2014 from founder Terri Martin, a former Temple University lecturer who retired that same year.

Pippet was a leading member of Temple Cats until her retirement in 2019. Under her guidance, Liu learned the trap, neuter and release method, a widely used practice to reduce growing cat populations.

Anita Szoke, a 2024 biology graduate and volunteer with the Temple Cats, assisted Liu with the TNR method and learned how to support the process.

Temple Cats volunteers safely capture the cats and bring them to the ACCT, where they are spayed or neutered by veterinarians. The strays are then released back to where the volunteers found them. The ACCT also gives them the rabies vaccination and removes a corner of their ear as a sign that they have been cared for.

“It prevents them from keeping more cats or kittens to keep the population down while also preventing them from getting rabies,” Szoke said.

Liu has essentially transformed Temple Cats from a mere Facebook page into a full-fledged nonprofit organization. She recruits dozens of student volunteers each year and typically finds only one or two per year who are interested in supporting TNR.

Jennifer Keller, a 2024 early childhood education graduate and volunteer with Temple Cats, dedicated most of her semester as a student to caring for stray cats on campus. When she started in 2021, around 12 feeding stations were set up on campus. A key part of Keller’s role was figuring out which cats were adoptable and which could be neutered and left outside, she said.

“You can’t socialize feral cats,” Keller said. “It would be like trying to socialize a squirrel. It’s just not really possible. So they have to stay on the streets.”

Under Liu’s guidance, Keller learned the basics of TNR and worked closely with street cats. One of the most difficult moments of her time volunteering with Temple Cats was when she captured a critically ill cat that needed to be euthanized, she said.

“The beautiful thing about it is that you can take them out of the misery of dying alone on the street,” Keller said. “And he can die with the people without pain.”

Liu expresses a similar sentiment when describing the importance of their work. When the cat population gets out of control, diseases can spread not only to cats but also to humans. Rabies is a common disease in wild cats. By limiting the population, volunteers can more easily track down new cats in the neighborhood and test them for the disease.

On the Temple Cats Facebook page, members of the Temple community can post about lost cats on their street or injured cats in need of help, report their own missing cat, and support the nonprofit by donating food and supplies.

Temple Cats has been able to reduce the number of active feeding stations. By conducting TNR and finding homes for the adoptable cats, the stray population has been reduced to essentially the same feral cat population that feeds at their stations. Keller claims that the number of stray cats in Temple has decreased by nearly 20% thanks to the work of Temple Cats.

“The fewer cats, the better,” Liu said. “It just proves that what we’re doing is working.”