It’s not unusual to see a stray cat from time to time. But in the Eugene-Springfield area, there are many large cat colonies that are mostly out of sight. Local rescues put in a lot of work to keep them under control.
Along West 11th Avenue in Eugene, Jackie Atkins whistles out the “dinner bell” for the stray and feral cat colonies she monitors. Atkins is a board member for the nonprofit cat rescue, “Feline Good.” She feeds 12 colonies along a two mile stretch of road. That’s about 157 cats altogether, she estimates.
Atkins feeds, documents and on occasion, traps the cats to take them to the vet.
Feline Good has eight other colonies they provide food for and monitor. Another rescue in the area, Community Cat Advocacy Team, says it takes care of 223 colony cats.
Cats can have their first litter before they’re even a year old, and can have two to three litters per kitten season. Just hours before speaking with KLCC, Atkins picked up a cat and her kittens who she estimated were the cat’s 16th or 17th litter.
“I want people to know that this is a human-created problem,” Atkins said. “I want people to know that these cats are not the problem. It's the humans that created this…these cats didn't just fall from the sky”
She said while many colony cats are feral, some used to be pets and the rest have descended from un-fixed pets.
Greenhill Humane Society’s outreach coordinator, Devin Sharp, said the economy has had a large impact on the stray population.
“I think what we're seeing is more cats that once lived in a home are … either getting out because (their owners) are now living maybe in their car instead, or are being left when people are evicted,” Sharp said.
Representatives from both Feline Good and Community Cat Advocacy Team cited the same reason for the out of control population, saying it’s becoming more common for people to not neuter animals due to the price. They’re also seeing more cases of people dumping animals they can no longer afford.
Atkins said she’s noticed a pattern, where each colony along her route is across a small ravine from residential areas.
“Everything on the other side of the slough here is low-income housing of some kind, apartment complexes, shelter, community-supported shelters, and stuff like that,” Atkins said. “And all those individuals don't necessarily have the money to fix their pets.”
To try and combat the growing stray and feral population, many rescues in the area have a “Trap-Neuter-Return,” or TNR, program. These programs consist of humanely trapping feral or stray cats, bringing them in to be spayed or neutered, before returning them to where they were living.
Putting the cats back is not always easy, however. Tara Nagelhou, a board member of Feline Good, said that while she knows it is for the best, she feels guilty about it, which is why Atkins is their main trapper and colony feeder, and not her.
Toni Ray, the founder of Community Cat Advocacy Team, said most colony cats are quite content in their territories and would not respond well to being taken to a new location.
“Those cats will leave that property and desperately try to find their way back to their home colony because they have those strong family bonds,” said Ray. "Unfortunately, 90% of those cats end up dead. They get hit by cars. They get taken by wildlife.”
Ray said if a colony does not have a caretaker when they TNR them, the rescue will take on monitoring them so it’s a safe place to return cats to post-surgery.
Feline Good and Greenhill say they don’t have the resources to bring in every stray cat, especially when so many don’t want to be indoors and are content where they are. Instead, they feel it’s more important to keep cats on the street from having more kittens, making TNR a vital part of their strategy.
Greenhill has a dedicated TNR day once a week, and averages around 900 TNRs a year. On top of that, Feline Good has done 150 TNRs so far in 2026 and the Community Cat Advocacy Team has done 170. Even so, rescues say they’re struggling to keep up with the growing need in the area.
For more information on TNR or low-cost spay and neuter resources go to Greenhill, Feline Good or The Community Cat Advocacy Team websites.
