<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0aSpUO_0vmqjZZG00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0aSpUO_0vmqjZZG00" width="1763" height="1175" ><figcaption>Photo courtesy of Mary Abby Goss</figcaption></figure>UTA students are no strangers to the furry felines that wander campus, but some may not know who cares for them.The Campus Cat Coalition’s mission is to provide basic needs for the 150 to 200 cats around UTA, offering food, medical supervision and a watchful eye to the unofficial Mavericks. Shelters and feeding locations are stationed throughout campus.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1RcW7J_0vmqjZZG00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1RcW7J_0vmqjZZG00" width="1500" height="450" ></figure>Coalition president McKayla Mellen said because Arlington has one of the highest populations of feral cats in Texas, many make UTA their home. The coalition aims to help maintain the growing cat population through sterilization.“We are just a group of cat lovers who all join for the common cause and work to just make sure that the cats are taken care of,” Mellen said.Although students often run into the gray-white cat Microwave at the UTA Planetarium, Mellen said the best spot for students to see campus cats is outside the Business Building.With a continuously growing cat population, she said the group tries to foster as many cats as possible and get them adopted, but there’s only so much space to hold them all.“They’re all really sweet, and we really just want them to have forever homes,” she said.The coalition enters the cats through the Trap-Neuter-Return program, which removes a cat’s reproductive organs to prevent diseases and mass reproduction.Coalition vice president Brandon Isom said the previous president’s fight to legalize the Trap-Neuter-Return program dates back to 2004, which was approved by the city in 2013.Through the program, Annette De La Rosa, City of Arlington’s Animal Services officer and Trap-Neuter-Return coordinator, said feral cats brought to the shelter’s veterinary clinic are spayed, neutered and ear-tipped.The Arlington Animal Services Center, located at 1000 SE Green Oaks Blvd., hosts monthly free neuter and spay clinics for 20 feral cats.Megan DiGiovanni, the coalition’s feeding head, is tasked with scheduling club members to fill the various feeding stations across campus.“Our backbone is our community and our supporters,” DiGiovanni said. “That’s why we try to get more people involved and more people aware of what we have going on because the more people we get in, then the more outreach we can do.”Living on campus, DiGiovanni interacts with resident cats daily, and some days can be tough, especially when a cat dies. Recently, a cat named Everest died after being hit by a reckless driver.Usually, when a cat dies on campus, the group is notified and animal control safely handles the body, but on Labor Day, she and another officer had to move the cat somewhere safe to not harm others.“It can weigh heavy on the heart, dealing with these cats, seeing what they’re going through, especially trying to do what you can with limited resources,” DiGiovanni said. “But it’s also really rewarding when you get to help the cats and you get to see them happy and safe.”Students can keep up with the campus cats on the organization’s Instagram account, @catsofuta, and on their website, which accepts donations.@mn.alansari</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

Arlington, UTA communites provides aid, protects local stray cats

UTA students are no strangers to the furry felines that wander campus, but some may not know who cares for them. The Campus Cat Coalition’s mission is to provide basic needs for the 150 to 200 cats around UTA, offering food, medical supervision and a watchful eye to the unofficial Mavericks. Shelters and feeding locations are stationed throughout campus.