Paws Crossed Rescue works tirelessly to better the lives of feral cats in Camden. You can help by heeding their advice.
CAMDEN -- About an hour into one of Cindy Svitak's tri-weekly trips into Camden, she stops at a corner along Louis Street where a notorious stash house once stood.
Demolished by the city one year ago this month, the local police chief explained at the time how a "gun safe" and numerous firearms were found inside. Svitak isn't deterred by the dark nor the danger -- there are thousands of little lives depending on her.
"Once you start rescuing, seeing the need for these cats, you can't stop," said Svitak, an Audubon resident who dedicates hours each week to the needs of Camden's stray cats as part of Paws Crossed Rescue. "It's a necessary evil."
As sunlight faded and the chill of Saturday night set in, Svitak drove deep into Camden to leave heaping mounds of dry food for clusters of cats. Twenty minutes into her two hour-plus mission, it became quite clear that the need for these unfortunate creatures isn't going away any time soon.
'Anything can happen'
Paws Crossed leads a Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) effort and has partnerships with shelters in Exton, Pennsylvania, Georgia and a Center City, Philadelphia, pet store. The local non-profit rescue group has already affected the lives of more than 2,500 stray cats over the last six years.
Svitak, a legal assistant at a Philadelphia law firm, is one of a handful of volunteers trekking to Camden County locations to feed abandoned and feral cats. Her route, which she's been doing for the past two years, contains 40 stops in Camden City.
"In the big picture, I don't think we're making a dent," she laments moments before pulling to a car dealership off Mount Ephraim Avenue. The cats, all hidden from view just seconds earlier, come running when they hear the sound of her car.
The dealership welcomes her visits, as cats keep mice away. Not everyone is so savory, however.
"A lot of people on my route don't want me feeding. I've had people banging on my window, people try to grab me. When you're feeding cats in Camden, anything can happen," she said.
Camden County police officers have stopped her to figure out what she's doing in the dark. Driving past the scene of an unsolved murder where a Gloucester County man was gunned down, Svitak hastily hops out, leaves a cardboard dish of food where she knows the cats are and gets back on the road as onlookers pause from front stoop conversations.
She always says "hello" to those walking by and has even had a man chase her down just to give her cash and thank her for what she's doing. It doesn't take long to go through a 22-pound bag of cat food, thankfully donated by outlets hoping to keep Paws Crossed efforts on the road.
'The bigger picture'
The mission of Paws Crossed is to get as many cats as possible off the streets. Svitak said adoption fees from rescued felines who find new homes keep that mission going.
Sometimes cats will think they've found a home of their own inside countless Camden properties boarded up by the city. They'll crawl in through the basement to escape the elements and either die of starvation or die during demolition -- never able to make it back out the way they came in.
"When you've been doing it this long, you're looking at the bigger picture," Svitak said of life and death of unnamed and unappreciated animals.
At one point, Svitak was just about ready to give up on one of her stops because the cats that typically congregated there were nowhere to be found. She gave it one more shot and decided to stop; sleeping in one of her food boxes there were two kittens.
The plight of stray animals is not limited to Camden City and Svitak is hardly the only person taking time out of her well-traveled life to better the lives of those abandoned, forgotten or discounted.
To that end, she said feeding strays outdoors is okay so long as those doing the feeding take the next step. Spaying and neutering is vital to breaking the cycle that keeps Paws Crossed on its toes at all times.
"The reward is when we save a life," Svitak said.
Readers who would like to contribute food, become a foster family or assist with sheltering should visit pawscrossedofnj.org. Rescued cats are available for adoption at Rittenhouse Pet Supply, at 135 S. 20th St. in Philadelphia, and at Petsmart locations through New Jersey State Animal Rescue.
Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.