About 9 years ago I happened to be at my local Costco near evening time and saw some cats.  I later learned that they were feral cats and that they were starving, scrounging for food out of trash cans and food tossed on the ground in the parking lot.  Since I am an animal lover I just could not stand by and watch the kitties starve to death.  So started my 9-year-long journey of going to Costco every day (in the beginning) and later on 6 days a week with a friend feeding one day a week to give me a break.

Along the way, I have met several people who have inquired about the cats and their status.  One day a couple saw me feeding and we started talking.  As it turned out, they were from back East and they helped feral cats when they lived back East.  They asked if I needed help and I quickly said yes.  At that time, I was unsure if Costco management was friend or foe.  As I was inexperienced at talking to and negotiating with management, the man of the couple said he would help pave the way to getting formal permission to feed the cats.  Long story short, after several weeks of breaking the ice and getting to know some of the managers at Costco, my friend got verbal permission from the manager for us to feed the cats and trap the cats in order to sterilize them and return them back to Costco. The manager apparently would not give written permission, unfortunately.

A few years later, I happened to meet a so-called groundskeeper for Costco who wanted me to move the cats feeding place to across some railroad tracks out into an unsafe open field.  I told him I could not do that due to safety concerns for the kitties.  I met him a second time and he said to me "I thought you were going to move the cats, now you have done it, these cats are dead."  Those were just about his exact words.  I posted about the situation on the Internet and I talked to the local animal shelter manager who contacted the management at Costco and was assured that the employee would not do anything to the cats.  Well, one by one they disappeared and at least one that I know of was found dead.  I did not have proof that the employee was the one who was killing the cats but I had a very strong suspicion because of what he said to me.  A year or so later, the employee was fired from Costco but it was not for what he had done to the cats, which numbered about 20 at that time.

Throughout the years I have tried to rescue as many cats and kittens as I could from Costco.  I have tried to spay and neuter several of the cats but several have died or disappeared either suspiciously or, in a few cases, a natural death or accidental death due to a car.  I have endured a lot of heartbreak throughout the years, going to Costco almost on a daily basis.

Today I discovered a sign where I feed the cats forbidding me to continue feeding the cats and warning that they would be trapped and taken to the shelter if I do not comply.  No explanation was given as to why the request was being made after 9 years of taking care of and feeding the cats that came and went from Costco.  It has been my understanding that a lot of the Costco's around in different cities do have similar situations with cats living on or near the premises.  Before this Costco was at its current location, it was located in an adjacent city and I understand there were cats there also.

There are very few cats left at Costco, only one survivor from the former cat group that has been there may be 7 years.  She has been spayed.  I am left with the desperate situation of having to trap the remaining few and finding homes for them or they will be taken to the (?) local shelter and killed as they are ferals.  I have heard that perhaps this abrupt request to stop feeding the cats may be due to a local business close by Costco that does not like the cats and has written the manager complaining about the cat.  This business is allegedly believed to have also killed 6 to 8 of the 10 cats that were living in close proximity to the business, very close to Costco also.  I am left with a dilemma.  There probably will always be cats that find their way to Costco as the smell the food that is cooked on the premises.  I do not want to stop leaving food and water at Costco as it would not be the humane thing to do.  I am really looking for suggestions and support from the animal-lover community.  When the ex employee was killing (probably poisoning) the cats one by one, I was unable to find strong enough support and people willing to get involved to help me stop the deaths of probably nearly 20 cats.  I have horrible guilt over this.  I feel I did not do enough to get the cats out of there and save their lives.  Granted, it would have been difficult for me alone to rehome the kitties as it is hard to place ferals but I feel now that I did not try hard enough.  We are going to try to relocate as many of the remaining kitties as we can.  It would really be better if I had some support behind me -- numbers, voices, letter-writers, etc. as do not want to "fight" Costco alone.  I am asking for some back-up support and help as I think Costco would listen to a group of people better than if it was just me alone.  If you can back me up in any way, I would appreciate it.  Please email carolynsmoneyclicks@gmail.com and put in the subject line "Costco Kitties".  Thank you.