If you\u2019ve walked down Parkview Avenue, you\u2019ve likely met Squid, the friendly neighborhood cat often seen exploring the street, lounging on porches or making himself at home in his neighbors\u2019 homes. After being struck and killed by a driver earlier this month, the loss has since touched the hearts of his fellow Oakland community and friends.<\/p>\n
Andrea Boykowcyz, an Oakland native and Squid\u2019s owner, adopted Squid as a kitten in 2023 with his two siblings, Cocoa and Beatrice. Boykowcyz ran an Instagram account<\/a> for Squid where she shared the cat\u2019s encounters with the Oakland community, including many South Oakland-based Pitt students. On Tuesday, Nov. 4, Squid was struck by a driver driving on the wrong side of the road, igniting community-wide grief and traffic-related concerns.<\/p>\n After having Squid and his siblings for around a year, Boykowcyz allowed the cats to venture outside starting in 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey were a lively set, and they were really well bonded. But they also had very distinct personalities,\u201d Boykowcyz said. \u201cSquid was the roamer of that set of three. Beatrice doesn\u2019t venture off the block, [and] Cocoa didn\u2019t go very far.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In September, Squid\u2019s sibling, Cocoa, was also struck and killed by a driver in South Oakland. However, the community reaction<\/a> to Squid\u2019s passing was different.<\/p>\n \u201cSquid was just one tiny little animal, and he was pouring all of this love out into the world with everybody who interacted with him,\u201d Boykowcyz said. \u201cIt magnifies your own heart, but then it also magnifies the sense of loss, because it\u2019s not just your own grief you\u2019re experiencing this way \u2014 you\u2019re experiencing other people\u2019s [grief] as well. The loss just seems that much greater.\u201d<\/p>\n Sam Siedelhofer, a senior health informatics major, was in class when she heard what happened to Squid. Siedelhofer lives on Parkview, where she often found Squid on her porch, waiting for her or her roommates to let him explore their home.<\/p>\n \u201cI was so upset because I knew one of his siblings also passed the same way,\u201d Siedelhofer said. \u201cI just feel like people need to slow down when they\u2019re driving on Parkview.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Marisa Sala, a junior finance and accounting major, would take frequent walks on Parkview to see Squid, where he\u2019d join her on her stroll. Sala was devastated by the news after just seeing Squid the previous week.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI go on a lot of walks, and I would always go down Parkview, specifically to see Squid,\u201d Sala said. \u201cWe would walk together a lot and I always loved to take pictures of him.\u201d<\/p>\n While they\u2019re at college, Sala and her roommates miss seeing their pets from home everyday. To them, Squid was like their pet.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just loved seeing him,\u201d Siedelhofer said. \u201cAnd my roommates always wanted a pet in the house, and we always missed that, with being away from home so much. He was like our little pet.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Boykowcyz plans on keeping her other cats indoors from now on. Boykowcyz, who is also the Executive Director of Oakland Planning and Development Corporation<\/a>, said much of Oakland\u2019s pedestrian safety issues come from Central Oakland.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of traffic-created pedestrian safety issues all over Oakland, especially in Central Oakland, where there\u2019s a lot of traffic demand,\u201d Boykowcyz said.<\/p>\n Boykowcyz said the Oakland construction traffic has caused concern throughout the area.<\/p>\n \u201cThe residents on the streets, even apart from Squid and the danger to him, have been anxious<\/a> about the danger of traffic running fast down the street for as long as [construction] has been in place,\u201d Boykowcyz said. \u201cIt\u2019s been a problem. Everybody has noted it.\u201d<\/p>\n Boykowcyz said traffic issues, like speeding, have been a problem since the closing of the Charles Anderson Memorial Bridge<\/a> in 2023, along with other sections nearby. Since the spring, sections of the Boulevard of Allies between the bridge and Dawson Street have also been periodically closed off.<\/p>\n \u201c[The closures] have been a saga that was supposed to have lasted only four months<\/a>,\u201d Boykowcyz said. \u201cBut while that detour<\/a> is in place, anybody who wants to get to the Swinburne Bridge is being routed up and around Oakland Square and down Parkview.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n According to Boykowcyz, drivers often speed down Parkview to quickly exit the detour and get back onto main roads.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c[Drivers] are like, \u2018ah, this thing!\u2019 and they gun their engines as they\u2019re going down Parkview to exit the confusing detour [through Parkview],\u201d Boykowcyz said.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, Oct. 28, 71-year-old Bobby Paige died after being hit in a traffic incident<\/a>. A vigil was held by CPS on Sunday, Nov. 16, to raise awareness on creating safer streets in Oakland.\u00a0<\/p>\n Earlier this year, OPDC and Complete Streets at Pitt<\/a> worked together to track pedestrian travel on Bates Street through their Bates Street 24 Hour Watch Party<\/a>. With the data collected, OPDC reached out to Pittsburgh\u2019s City traffic engineers and City council.<\/p>\n Lydia Swanson is the founder of Oakland TNR coalition<\/a>, where they aim to provide proper care to feral cats through rehabilitation and provide \u201cforever homes\u201d for them. Swanson said cars are the \u201cnumber one\u201d cause of death for outdoor cats.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really rare to find that have been hit [by cars] that make it,\u201d Swanson said. \u201cI can\u2019t even count how many [struck cats there have] been. It\u2019s just an unfortunate truth of cats being outside.\u201d<\/p>\n Though an advocate for keeping cats indoors, Swanson said there are ways to ensure outdoor cats safety.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether it\u2019s harness training<\/a> or putting a GPS tracker<\/a> on their collars, there are measures that can be taken in a way that\u2019s safe,\u201d Swanson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Boykowcyz said familiarizing outdoor pets with neighbors is a good way to ensure your pet is safe and in good hands.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of eyes on the street in Oakland, and people do look out for each other in really helpful ways,\u201d Boykowcyz said.<\/p>\n Boykoycyz said there are many ways to create a sense of community, including through animals.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t even have to be a person,\u201d Boykowcyz said. \u201cThere are lots of different ways in which people can find a way to build a community, and with the people in that community. I hope if there is a lesson to be drawn from all of this, building a community is part of it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n