BALTIMORE — Volunteers set out to make a dent in two of Baltimore's large street cat colonies. Within 24 hours, they had trapped 71 cats, more than they had appointments to handle.
It was the first Project Kitty Angel, a coordinated effort led by Baltimore-based nonprofit Show Your Soft Side to trap, spay or neuter and provide medical care to cats in Armistead Gardens and Reservoir Hill.
The effort grew out of what local rescuers say has become an increasingly difficult problem to manage: large populations of unsterilized cats, sick and injured animals needing care and volunteers stretched thin.
Ellen Voelker, a cat rescuer and board member with the Feline Rescue Association, was among nearly 60 volunteers who participated.
"There's an overwhelming amount of cats that are unfixed everywhere you turn in Baltimore," Voelker said.
Voelker spent about three hours trapping in Armistead Gardens. She initially planned to work one area and then move on to another.
She never made it off the first street.
"There were just cats everywhere," Voelker said. "You walk a few steps and you find cats left and right in these yards."
As residents learned why she was there, more began approaching her about cats that needed help.
"They were so grateful to have us there helping," Voelker said. "They said, we've been trying to get help for these colony cats for such a long time."
She said some residents simply don't have the money or transportation necessary to get the cats spayed or neutered.
By the end of the first 24 hours, volunteers had trapped 71 cats. Show Your Soft Side said one of the cats was sent to an emergency veterinarian for treatment of ulcers in its mouth.
"We initially had 50 appointments and we showed up with 67 cats," Voelker said. "I can't even begin to express how many births were prevented."
Timonium Animal Hospital accommodated the larger-than-expected intake. Cats were spayed or neutered, vaccinated, microchipped, treated for fleas and checked for medical problems. Several required additional treatment, including cats with neck wounds, an eye infection and a respiratory infection.
Eighteen cats even spent Friday and Saturday nights at the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel, where volunteers cared for them before and after surgery.
Three cats trapped too late for Saturday's clinic were taken to another veterinarian Sunday.
The scale of the weekend wasn't entirely a surprise.
Show Your Soft Side's Street Kitty Medical Fund, which helps pay for care for sick and injured community cats, received 63 requests when it launched in 2019. In 2025, that number reached 666.
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From June 2025 to June 2026, the fund covered 636 veterinary visits and surgeries for 530 cats. The group previously told WMAR-2 News Mallory Sofastaii that only 42 percent of cats coming through the fund had already been spayed or neutered.
Voelker compares rescue work to "emptying the ocean with a teaspoon."
"I feel like we're making a dent, but at the same time you might empty an alley of cats and then all of a sudden it's the vacuum effect and 10 more turn up the next day," she said.
Volunteers also encountered something Show Your Soft Side and other local rescuers have been reporting more frequently - friendly cats living outside.
"I always hope when I go trapping that these cats are going to be feral so that they can be easy and I'll just fix them and I'll put them back, but most of the time that's not the case," Voelker said.
She believes some were abandoned pets.
"I hear the story all the time that somebody left their cat behind and that cat was not fixed," she said.
Show Your Soft Side previously told WMAR-2 that at least 54 percent of cats coming through its Street Kitty Medical Fund were considered "friendly" and had since been adopted. The organization does not have definitive data showing that abandonment has increased, but says reports from residents, businesses and trappers - combined with what it is seeing through the medical fund - have raised concerns.
"Foster homes are so important to be able to save these cats," Voelker said. "Many times when we get these cats, we don't want to put these friendlies back on the street, but at the same time, we don't have enough places to put them."
She said shelters and existing foster homes are often full.
For some of the cats trapped during Project Kitty Angel, the weekend changed what happens next.
Voelker encountered kittens covered in fleas and worried they could eventually become anemic without treatment. She wasn't able to find all of them on the first day, but residents continued searching.
The next day, they found the kittens under a porch.
"They're the sweetest things," Voelker said. "They're healthy now. They're going to be up for adoption in about a month, once they put on some weight and grow."
Show Your Soft Side said kittens and friendly mothers trapped during the project went into rescue, along with some friendly adult cats for whom volunteers were able to find foster homes. Cats healthy enough to return to their established colonies were returned after treatment.
For Voelker, the work comes on top of raising four children and working a full-time job.
"Trying to manage my hobby around that can definitely be challenging and takes a toll," she said.
But she keeps doing it.
"For every single cat that I rescue, I know I've made a difference in that cat's life," Voelker said.
Project Kitty Angel required close to 60 volunteers doing everything from trapping and transporting cats to maintaining medical records, caring for cats before and after surgery and delivering food to caretakers without transportation.
Nationally known trappers Sterling "Trap King" Davis and Nathan the Cat Lady also participated. Nine local and national companies funded the effort.
On Sunday, volunteers distributed 34,000 pounds of donated Weruva cat food to trappers and community caretakers.
And organizers say the project has already brought more people into the effort.
Show Your Soft Side says 25 new volunteers signed up after publicity surrounding Project Kitty Angel. Some want to learn how to trap, while others have offered to feed, transport or temporarily hold cats.
For people who want to help but aren't ready to trap, Voelker said fostering can make a major difference.
"It is so, so important and valuable to open up your home, just a bathroom or a spare room, for these cats that just need a little bit of time to decompress and show you who they really are."
Those interested in volunteering, fostering or donating can contact Show Your Soft Side or a local cat rescue organization.