Was it irresponsible to rehome 30 feral cats by a main road?

[HangryBrickShark]

Feel a bit sad about this and not really sure if I'm being a bit unfair.

I found a cat dead at the side of a 50mph main road the other day. Pulled over into a driveway and walked back to see if it had a collar on which it didn't. Moved onto verge and covered with a towel (a crow had already had one of its eyes) and continued my journey with the intention of collecting on the way back and dropping to a vets for them to scan in case of microchip.

When I went back 30 mins later it had been removed. Suddenly someone calls to me from other side of road, its their cat.

I cross road and lady comes down driveway thanking me for looking out for their cat and covering it up. She went on to say she'd just moved to the area and had relocated 30 feral cats she'd been feeding at their previous property which was rural. She'd kept the cats indoors for a length of time, can't remember if she said 30 or 90 days. Had only let them out a few days prior.

For context driveway is 20 yards from main 'A' road in a 50mph section.

She went on to say that 'she had expected to lose some' cats but she particuarly liked the one who had just been run over and was 'devastated'. Of course I don't know her and can therefore make no judgement on whether that was the case but is it not a bit irresponsible to house 30 feral cats 20 yards from a main road in the first place?

I'm not sure whether her honesty rankled at me because I feel it is really inappropriate to have said that or the fact that a cat could suffer a long drawn out death if not discovered quickly after being hit by a car, i.e middle of the night or the fact that a driver could lose control of a car trying to avoid a cat in the first place causing a potentially serious accident.

Am I being mean feeling this way or should I just chalk it down to someone making an effort at least to keep 30 feral cats? She said 27 have been chipped so only has 3 to go. Have no idea if spayed/neutered but guessing so. Presumably they aren't that feral if she kept them in her house to adjust to the new area? Tbh I was just so shocked that she'd said she was expecting to lose some that I did really think to ask more details. She seemed a really nice lady. In the brief interaction we has I felt she did genuinely care about them. Which is why I feel so conflicted about the situation.

I travel the stretch of road twice daily and have not seen anymore dead cats but that's not the point really.

I just think that anyone who rehomes 30 feral cats doesn't have the same - let's say - 'standards for rationality' as most people so there's no point judging them by that. If you get me.

rural to urban is not great for the cats.
But alternative is to abandon them?

but 30.

hmm. Looks like animal hoarding to me

I’m not sure irresponsible is the right word - it’s certainly not ideal but what’s the alternative?

I’m with you - it’s pretty irresponsible. I mean when we adopted our cats we had very specific instructions from the cattery about how you settle them in etc, this lady clearly isn’t running a “sanctuary” so it’s totally irresponsible to just pick up animals and plop them elsewhere. Also if they’re feral then they’re not hers to just take. She sounds unwell tbh, I can’t think of anyone picking up a load of strays off their own accord and moving with them to another location.

Has she even had sny of these cats checked by a vet, neutered etc?

"I'm not sure irresponsible is the right word"
Irresponsible is definitely the right word, unfortunately. Feral cats are not just cats that will get used to living somewhere new after a few weeks. They are near enough wild animals and must be feeling extreme stress and distress by these changes. Of course they are going to run off, and of course some of them are going to get run over. Moving that many feral cats from a rural area they know to somewhere so close to a main road was a disastrous idea.

There are alternatives. She should have contacted Cats Protection, the RSPCA or other cat welfare shelters and got them taken in. That way, they could be neutered, health checked, and the suitable ones rehomed or released back into her care as long as she had a massive catio or runs for them. Places like farms and stables will often take rescued feral cats. With some there would be no alternative but to end it.

Sometimes people act out of kindness, but it is not necessarily the right decision for the animals concerned.

Presumably if 27 have been chipped then I guess they've been checked by the vet yes, so also assuming they're spayed/neutered but don't know for certain. As we were chatting on her drive there was a cat rummaging around in the hedge next to the driveway. I thought 'oh dear, that going to go on the road at some point'.

It doesn't sound like it was the best location but there were probably valid reasons for it.

I really hope she (the owner) invests in some decent fencing.