The SF State Campus Cat Committee coordinates a number of volunteers to feed and keep about a dozen feral cats safe, healthy and fixed on campus seven days a week.

The committee is headed by Sheila McClure, who has been feeding cats on campus for many years. In addition to volunteering individually, the committee meets once a year in the Vista Room on campus to exchange pictures, stories and future plans.

About seven years ago, the committee shifted from having two members to multiple members joining after McClure posted an invitation on the Campus Memo.

“Some volunteers feed on weekdays, some on weekends, some provide financial support and some are just generally helpful,” said Brigid Duffy, a pivotal member of the committee.

The Cat Committee also works with the San Francisco Society For the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Mary Ann Buxton, who works as the feral cat program coordinator.

Buxton makes nightly runs around the Richmond District, close to her home, and feeds a number of cats, constantly keeping an eye out for any newcomers that may need to be spayed or neutered and released back onto the streets.

“It’s a lot of work to capture these cats, feed them, fix them and nurse them back to health, but its worth it and important to the San Francisco community,” Buxton said, “I start to see the cats filling out and becoming healthier and happier.”

The committee on campus brings the cats on campus into the SPCA and the cats are usually fixed by the end of the day. “The SPCA even covers the cost of surgery,” Duffy said, “In addition to that, Pet Food Express gives us a discount on all of our cat supplies.”

There are two main locations where cats are fed on campus, on the Cox Stadium side of the gym and near the parking structure at the central plant. The cats at these locations are admired by many of the committee’s volunteers and have earned names such as Momcat, Redwing, Curly Joe, Moe and Stratford. The occasional raccoon sometimes comes along as well.

Jeanie Scott, another volunteer, lives near campus and has three cats of her own. She feeds the gym cats one Saturday morning a month. “I enjoy being able to just pick up the food, walk over there and help out the feral cats on campus. I am a cat lover, so this was perfect for me,” she said.

The Cat Committee is not funded by the University, but the “groundskeeper, campus support staff and Campus Police are very supportive,” according to Duffy. “They always alert us when a new cat appears on campus, telling us when a cat has been up to something and keeping tabs on all the wildlife.”