The work done by Reed and other cat-rescue volunteers is chipping away at Philadelphia's goal to make it the first big "no kill" community on the East Coast.
But the volunteers know that in the case of the thousands of felines that roam Philadelphia's alleys and vacant lots, the task is gargantuan.
"That's a long way off," Kathy Jordan, executive director of the Philadelphia Community Cats Council, said of "no kill." Some poor can't even afford the $25 low-cost sterilization fees and have no transportation to get to a clinic, Jordan said.
Other animal-welfare advocates are determined to see a "no-kill Philadelphia" - where dogs and cats are euthanized only because of severe illness or because they are vicious - come sooner rather than later.
Planning to spearhead the drive, with a $3.6 million budget provided by the city, is a new city-supervised nonprofit that will take over animal control on Jan. 1 from the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Details are still in the planning stages, said Brian Abernathy, of the city Managing Director's Office, which has taken over animal control from the Health Department.
But Abernathy cited the volunteer trap, neuter and release program as one he hoped animal control would work closely with.
That's when volunteers catch stray cats, take them to low-cost spay-and-neuter clinics to be sterilized, then return those too wild to live with people to local cat "colonies."
Homes are sought for kittens and house pets that have been dumped at the colonies - a common practice - including cats that have been declawed and have no way to protect themselves.
